A REVIEW 



¥ 

^ OF 






OF 



THE MEXICAN ¥AR, 



BY WILLIAM JAY. 



SECOND EDITION 



BOSTON: 

BENJAMIN B. MUSSEY h CO.; 

URIAH IIUXT k CO., PHIL A DELPHI A ; M. W. DODD, 
NEW YORK. 

1840. 






Entered according to Act of Congress, in the year 1849| 

Bt benjamin B. MUSSEY & CO., 

In the Clerk's Office of the District Court of Massachusetts. 



INTRODUCTION, 



The writer is a believer in the Divine authority of the 
Scriptures — he acknowledges no standard of right and 
wrong but the Will of God, and denies the expediency 
of any act which is forbidden by laws' dictated by Infi- 
nite Wisdom and Goodness. This avowal will prepare 
the reader to find in the following pages many opinions 
not having the stamp of public approbation. Patriot- 
ism, honor, glory, and national prosperity, are terms to 
which the Christian and the mere politician attach dif- 
ferent ideas, and estimate by different standards. He 
who admits the authority of the Bible will not readily 
acknowledge that whatever is "highly esteemed among 
men" must be right, nor that what is unpopular is, of 
course, wrong. 

In the following Review, the public conduct and 
opinions of public men are freely and fearlessly can- 
vassed, but in no instance, it is hoped and believed, at 
the expense of truth. In justice to the writer, the 
reader is earnestly entreated to bear in mind the dis- 
tinction between the statement of a far.f, and Xho. ox- 



4 IJPl'RODUCTION. 

pression of an opinion. Conscious of his own anxious 
and often laborious efforts to secure accuracy of detail, 
and of quotation, the author flatters himself that his 
facts will be found incontrovertible — for his opinions 
he claims no infallibility, and anticipates no general 
assent. 

The Review has far loftier objects than those of an 
historical record. It aims to recommend and enforce 
the duty of preserving Peace, by exhibiting the wicked- 
ness, the baseness, and the calamitous consequences of 
a victorious War, effecting all the ends for which it was 
waged. It seeks to warn the country against that ad- 
miration of military prowess, which, by degrading in the 
public estimation the virtues which conduce to the hap- 
piness and security of society, and by fostering the arts 
and passions which minister to human destruction, is 
corrupting the morals and jeoparding the liberties of 
the Republic. It strives to excite the abhorrence of 
the good for that statesmanship which seeks the ag- 
grandizement of the country in defiance of the laws of 
God ; while by presenting a true portrait of the patriot, 
it would fain afford some aid in detecting spurious re- 
semblances. ■ 

Such are the purposes for which the design of the 
Review was conceived and executed. The author hopes 
for a hearing, not from the selfish throng ignobly strug- 
gling in the political arena for office, and power, and 
money, and lavishly squandering in the strife their own 
truth and honor, and the public good ; but from that 



INTRODUCTION. 



small, yet increasing number, who are inquiring ho-w far 
their relltions to the State are to be governed by the 
precepts of Christianity. 

The maxim that " all's fair in politics," and the mon- 
strous frauds, falsehoods, and forgeries, attending almost 
every important election, illustrate the lamentable fact, 
that in general "Rehgion has nothing to do with poli- 
tics." But religious people in vast numbers have much 
to do with politics, and too often seem to think that in 
their character of office-holders, or office-seekers, they 
have received a dispensation from the obligations of the 
Moral Law. Such persons, should they deign to read 
the ensuing pages, may possibly be reminded with 
profit, that moral responsibility is not attached solely 
to such of our actions as may be termed private and 
domestic, but that " God will bring every work into 
judgment" — works done in political meetings, at elec- 
tions, and even on the floor of Congress : and, that as 
there is an express prohibition against following " a mul- 
titude to do evil," no majority, however great, can be 
pleaded in justification of crime, or in mitigation of 
punishment. 



CONTENTS. 



Chap. 

I. Early eflForts to wrest Texas from Mexioo, . 
II. Independence of Texas, 

III. Professions of the Federal Government in refer- 

ence to the war between Mexico and Texas, 

IV. Eiforts of the Administration to excite war with 

Mexico, 

V. Claims on Mexico, and war recommended, 
VI. Acknowledgment of the Independence of Texas, . 
VII. New claims made against Mexico, 
VIII. Treaty of annexation proposed and rejected, 
IX. Treaty of arbitration — action of the slaveholders, 
X. Results of the treaty of arbitration, . 
XI. New treaties with Mexico about claims, 
XII. Seizure and surrender of Monterey in California, 
by Commodore Jones, 

XIII. Negotiation and rejection of the Tyler treaty of 

annexation, 

XIV. More attempts to irritate Mexico, 
XV. Election of Mr. Polk, .... 

XVI. Annexation by joint resolution, 
XVII. Annexation of California determined on, 
XVIII. Slideirs' mission to Mexico, 
XIX. Western boundary of Texas, . 
XX. Commencement of war against Mexico, 
XXI. Conquest of California, .... 
XXII. Declaration of war against Mexico, . 

XXIII. The war prosecuted for conquest, 

XXIV. Extent of tp,rri(nrv roouir^d from Mexico 



Paoc 
9 

16 

19 

81 

86 
53 

58 
64 
66 
69 

74 

79 

87 
96 
99 
101 
107 
111 
J21 
180 
144 
158 
178 
178 



COl^TESTS. 



Chap. Pagb 
XXV. Motive for acquiring territory — the Wilmot 

Proviso, 181 

XXVI. Unworthy expedients for facilitating conquest, 196 

XXVII. Conduct of American otficers in Mexico, . 201 

XXVIII, American army in Mexico, .... 213 

XXIX. Sufferings inflicted on Mexico by the war, . 223 

XXX. Cost of the war to the United States, . . 240 

XXXI. Political evils of the war 245 

XXXII. Moral evils of the war, . . . .256 

XXXIII. Acquisition of territory, .... 267 

XXXIV. Glory, 272 

XXXV. Patriotism, 278 

XXXVI. John Quincy Adams, 290 

XXXVII. War, and the means of prevention, . . 821 



REVIEW OF THE MEXICAN WAR, 



CHAPTER I. 

EARLY EFFORTS TO WREST TEXAS FROM MEXICO. 

Louisiana was ceded by France to Spain in 1*762, and 
restored to the former power in 1800. Three years after, 
it was ceded by France to the United States. In none 
of these cessions, was there any specification of bounda- 
ries. The territory was a vast undefined region east of 
the Mississippi ; and with rare exceptions, untenanted by 
civilized inhabitants. It, of course, adjoined the Spanish 
dominions in Mexico, but the separating line could not 
easily be ascertained. As the American settlements in 
Louisiana extended, the question of boundary necessarily 
became a matter of discussion, between the governments 
of Spain and the United States. This question was finally 
settled in 1819, by a treaty with Spain, in which tJie con- 
tracting powers severally ceded to each other, all claims 
to territory beyond their respective sides of a defined 
line. 

In 1820, the State of Missouri, formed out of the Lou- 
isiana territory, was admitted into the Union as a slave 
State. To facilitate its admission, and to overcome the 
formidable opposition of the Northern States, to the 
incorporation into the confederacy of another slaveholding 
State, the slaveholders proposed and effected the celebra- 



10 KEVIEW or THK MEXICAfS WAR. 

ted Missouri compromise, a law declaring that in future 
slavery should be prohibited north of 36° 30" north lati- 
tude. 

It was not lonor however, before it was discovered that 
this Missouri compromise, together with the southern 
boundary of the United States, as defined in the Spanish 
treaty of 1819, had reduced within comparatively narrow 
limits, the area from which slave States might hereafter 
be formed ; with the exception of Florida, the territory 
south of the Missouri compromise line, was not probably 
sufficient for more than two States. 

The State of Louisiana was separated from the Spanish 
province of Texas, by the Sabine river, and the soil, cli- 
mate, and position of that province, rendered it a desira- 
ble acquisition to the "slaveholding interest. Various 
expedients were from time to time devised, to obtain pos- 
session of this coveted territory — forcible seizure — colo- 
nization — purchase — independence, and annexation. The 
first was attempted soon after the Spanish treaty, had 
extinguished all claims of the United States to Texas, as 
included within the territory of Louisiana. 

A man named James Long, without about seventy- five 
lawless adventurers, left Natchez on the 17th June, .1819, 
and proceeded to Nacogdoches, about forty miles within 
the limits of Texas. On the 23d of the same month, he 
there issued a proclamation v/hich may be regarded as the 
first step in that career of fraud, falsehood, and violence, 
which ultimately led to the annexation of Texas, and the 
war against Mexico. In this document, which was pro- 
bably prepared in the State of Mississippi, Long, styling 
himself President of the Supreme Council of Texas, 
declared '' that the citizens of Texas, have long indulged 
the hope that in the adjustment of the boundaries of the 
Spanish possessions in America, and of the territories of 



REVIEW OF THE MEXICAN WAR. 11 

the United States, they should be included within the 
limits of the latter." As this hope had been dissipated 
by the recent treaty, the proclamation proceeds to 
announce the independence of the Republic of Texas. 
This paper, was of course, intended as an invitation to 
American citizens to repair to Long's standard, and parti- 
cipate with him in the intended plunder; and it was 
consequently published in the Louisiana Herald, printed 
in New Orleans. 

In a little while, the whole party were dispersed, some 
being killed, and the others taken prisoners by the 
Spaniards,* 

The plan of colonization was next adopted. Moses 
Austin of Missouri, in 1821, obtained leave from the 
Spanish authorities, to introduce three hundi-ed families 
into Texas, on certain conditions. The permission was 
granted, as is said, on the representation of Austin, that 
Catholics were oppressed in the United States, and it was 
agreed that all the settlers to be introduced by him, 
should be of the oppressed religion. Austin dying, the 
grant was in 1823, renewed to his son, who commenced a 
colony on the Brazos, with emigrants from Tennessee, 
Mississippi, and Louisiana. By the renewed grant, the 
settlers, it is asserted, were to be exclusively Catholics ; 
but whatever was their creed in other respects, they were 
believers in the right of man to hold property in man, 
and accordingly carried their slaves with them. 

In 182G, a body of emigrants from the United States, 
settled about Nacogdoches, again raised the standard of 
insurrection under a man of the name of Edwards, and 
published a declaration of independence. They were, 
liowever, soon crushed by the Mexican forces. 

At the date of the boundary treaty, Mexico was a 
* Speecli of Mr. Severance in H. of E.,Feb, 4, 1847. 



12 REVIEW OF THE MEXICAN WAR. 

slaveholding country, and its near propinquity to our own 
settlements, was on that account viewed with less jealousy 
by southein statesmen. 

The planters, as we have seen, might cross the line 
with their slaves, and pursue the cultivation of sugar and 
cotton ; nor was any difficulty apprehended with regard 
to the recovery of fugitives slaves from the States. 

These border relations were, however, changed by a 
decree of the Mexican Congress of 13th July, 1824, 
prohibiting the introduction of slaves from foreign coun- 
tries. The Mexican Constitution, adopted the same year, 
declared that no person should hereafter be horn a slave ; 
thu5 providing for the gradual but total abolition of 
slavery throughout the Republic. 

The United Provinces of Coahuila and Texas, formed 
one State, and its Constitution adopted in 1827, contained 
an article giving freedom to all who should be hereafter 
bom, and prohibiting the introduction of slaves. The 
work of emancipation was completed by a decree of the 
Mexican Congress of 15th September, 1829, manumitting 
every slave in Mexico. 

These successive measures not only frustrated the views 
of the colonists, and discouraged further emigration from 
the slave States, but greatly irritated and alarmed the 
whole slaveholding interest. The future area of slavery 
had been greatly contracted by the boundary treaty, and 
the Missouri compromise ; and now that area was to be 
bounded on the south and east, as well as on the north, 
by an unlimited area of freedom. Under such circum- 
stances, American slavery was doomed. The influence 
of the free States would soon predominate in the general 
government, and the growing spirit of abolition would not 
only extend into the south itself, but vrould in various 
ways, endanger the security and permanency of slave 



REVIEW OF THE MEXICAN WAR. 13 

property. The colonists in Texas, were at present too 
feeble to break the yoke of freedom imposed on them by 
the Mexican Government. Against that Government, the 
United Slates had no pretext for war ; and the treaty of 
boundary was too recent and too explicit, to permit any 
claim being made to the territory of Texas. But one 
resource was left, and that was purchase. 

The government as early as the loth March, 1827, 
instructed Mr. Poinsett, our Minister in Mexico, that we 
wished to change the existing boundary, making it begin 
at the mouth of the Rio del Norte (Rio Grande), thence 
up the river to the Rio Puereo, and then with the last 
river to its source ; thence North to the Arkansas, and 
with this to the 42° North Lat. ; and that for this change 
of boundary we would give one million of dollars. This" 
modest proposal included almost the Avhole of Texas as 
at present claimed. 

The idea of purchase now took strong hold of the south- 
ern mind ; and great efforts were made to enlighten pub- 
lic opinion on the importance of Texas, and the necessity 
of its acquisition. In 1829 a series of newspaper essays 
on the subject appeared from the pen of Mr. Benton, a 
distinguished Senator from Missouri. Of the character 
of these essays some opinion may be formed from the fol- 
lowing notices of them in the journals of the day. 

The Edgefield Carolinian, speaking of Texas, remarked, 
" Some imposing Essays, originally published in the St. 
Louis Beacon, with the signature of * Americanus,' and 
attributed to Col. Benton of the Senate, explaining the 
circumstances of the treaty of 1819, and displaying the 
advantages of the retrocession, have operated on the pub- 
lic mind in the West with electrical force and rapidity. 
The writer produces strong circumstantial proof that the 
surrender of Texas resulted from the subserviency of our 
2 



14 REVIEW OF THE MEXICAN WAR. 

negotiator to Spain in her contest with Mexico, together 
with the poweiful subsidiarj^ motive of hostihty to the 
southern and western sections of our country. Ameri- 
canus exposes the evils to the United States of this sur- 
render under twelve distinct Jieads. Two of them of 
particular interest to this section of the country/, that it 
hrings a noii-slaveholding empire in juxta- position with the 
slaveholding South-ioest, and diminishes the outlet for the 
Indians inhabiting the States of Georgia, Alabama, Mis- 
sissippi, and Tennessee." 

A Baltimore paper, speaking of the essays of " Ame- 
ricanus," says, " One of the reasons that he assigns for 
the purchase of Texas is, that five or six more slaveholding 
States may thus be added to the Union, Indeed, he 
goes farther than this in one of his cnlculations, and esti- 
mates, that ' Nine more States as large as Kentucky,^ 
may be formed within the hmits of that province." 

A Charleston paper treating of the same subject, ob- 
served, *' It is not imposssible that he (President Jack- 
son) is now examining the propriety and practicabiUty of 
a retrocession of the vast territory of Texas ; an enter- 
prize which could not fail to exercise an important and 
favorable influence upon the future destinies of the South, 
hy increasing the votes of the slaveholding States in the 
United States Senate.'' 

Judge Upsher, of Yii-ginia, afterwards Secretary of 
State under President Tyler, remarked, the same year, in 
the Virginia Convention, " If Texas should be obtained, 
which he strongly desired, it would raise the price of 
slaves, and be a great advantage to the slaveholders of 
that State." Mr. Doddridge, in the same debate, asserted, 
" The acquisition of Texas will greatly enhance the value 
of the property in question." Debates, p. 89. Mr. 
Gholston. of the Viroinia Legislature in 1832. said. " He 



REVIEW OF TilK MEXICAN WAR. 15 

believed the acquisition of Texas would raise the price of 
slaves fifty per cent, at least." Virginia being a breeding 
State, these gentlemen were anxious to obtain Texas as a 
new and extensive market for their staple commodity. 
To stimulate the action of the Government, rumors were 
set afloat of the intentions of Great Britain to possess her- 
self of Texas ; an artifice practised without intermission 
from 1829 to the day of annexation. The following from 
the New Orleans Creole, of 1829, is a specimen: "A 
rumor reached us by the last packet from Mexico, that a 
company of British merchants, had offered to advance 
^5,000,000 to the Mexican Government on the condition 
that the Province of Texas should be itlaced under the pro- 
tection of Great Britain.'''' 

President Jackson entered fully into the views of the 
slaveholders, and on the 25th August, 1829, Mr. Poin- 
sett M^as instructed to offer five millions for Texas. Al- 
though this bid so greatly exceeded the former, it was 
promptly I'cjected. The offer was, according to a Mexi- 
can journal, followed by another : " When he (Poinsett) 
found his offer objectionable, he further insulted the 
nation by proposing a loan of ten millions (as a pawn- 
broker would) upon the pawning of Texas until repaid, 
which insidious proposal was meant to fill the country of 
Texas with Anglo-Americans and slaves; and to hold it 
after in any event." 

The failure of LIr. Poinsett to obtain from Mexico a 
stipulation to surrender fugitive slaves, gave a new stimu; 
lus to the efforts of the slaveholders to possess themselves 
of Texas 



16 REVIEW OP TKE MEXICAN WAR. 



CHAPTER II, 



INDEPENDENCE OF TEXAS. 



The insurrectionary efforts under Long and Edwards 
having failed, the Colony under Austin having yielded as 
yet no aid to the slaveholding interest in the United 
States, all hopes of acquiring Texas by purchase being 
now abandoned, and no pretext for v^ar with Mexico ex- 
isting, the slaveholdeis, as a last resort, determined to 
effect the separation of the Province from the Mexican 
Republic, as a necessary preliminary to annexation. Com- 
ing events were thus shadowed forth in an article pub- 
lished in 1830, in the Arkansas Gazette: " No hopes 
need be entertained of our acquiring Texas (by purchase) 
until some party more friendly to the United States than 
the present, shall predominate in Mexico ; and perhaps not 
imtil the Peo'ple of Texas shall throw oft' allegiance to that 
government, which they will no doubt do, so soon as they 
have a reasonable pretext for doing so. At present they 
are probably subject to as few exactions and impositions 
as any people under the sun." It will be observed that 
the writer takes for granted that we shall acquire Texas, 
as soon as the American settlers shall have a pretext for 
revolting from Mexico. At a Congressional election held 
about this time in the State of Mississippi, the following 
interrogatories were addressed to certain of the candi- 
dates — "Your opinion of the acquisition of Texas, and 
how — whether by force or treaty ; and whether the law* 

* Passed by Mexico in 1830, and repealed in 1833. 



REVIEW OF THE MEXICAN WAR. 17 

preventing the emigration of Americans is not evidence of 
apprehension that tliat province wishes to secede from 
the Mexican Government, and whether, if requested, we 
ought to give the seceders military assistance ; and what 
would be the effect of the acquisition of Texas upon the 
plan ting in icrest T ' 

" The South," said the Mobile Advertiser at this time, 
'* wish to have Texas admitted into the Union for two 
reasons ; first, to equahze the South with the North ; and 
secondly, as a convenient and safe place calculated from 
its peculiarly good soil and salubrious cHmate, for a slave 
populatiofi." The same year, Mr. Samuel Houston of 
Tennessee, disclosed to a friend (Robert Mayo, M.D.), 
"who communicated the intelligence to the President, that 
he was organizing an expedition with recruits from the 
United States, for the purpose of wresting Texas from 
Mexico ; and soon after it was announced in a Louisiana 
paper, that Houston had gone to Texas, the editor adding, 
** we may expect shortly to hear of his raising his flag." 
• One mode of effecting a revolution was to enlist the pe- 
cuniary interests of as many American citizens as possible 
in the independence of Texas. Vast grants of land had 
been made by the State Legislature to a few individuals. 
These grants were of course worthless till sold out in par- 
cels. Many of the patentees resided in the United States, 
and joint-stock companies were formed for the sale of 
these lands. Three of the most notorious of these com= 
panies, viz. : ** The Galveston Bay and Texas Company," 
"The Arkansas and Texas Company," and "The E,io 
Grande Company," were established in New York. Care 
was taken to enlist prominent politicians in these compa- 
nies ; and great efforts were made to distribute the scrip, 
or certificates of partial purchases, as widely as possible. 
This scrip was of little value while Texas continued under 



18 REVIE'A' OF ItHL MLXICAN WAR. 

the govei-nment of Mexico, but in case of independence 
followed by annexation might prove a fortune to the 
holder. In this manner, a powerful pecuniaiy interest 
was excited in the free States in behalf of Texas.* 

The plans of the conspirators in Texas were aided in 
1832, by the withdrawal of the Mexican troops, in conse- 
quence of one of those political revolutions with which the 
Republic had been frequently afflicted since its independ- 
ence. In this state of things, fresh emigrants found no 
difficulty in entering the territory with their slaves. The 
colonists, however, experienced an obstacle to their views 
in their union with Coahuila, in as much as their repre- 
sentatives were in a minority in the joint Legislature. 
The first step, therefore, to independence, was the disso- 
lution of the connection between the two provinces. For 
this purpose, the colonists in 1833 organized themselves 
into a distinct and separate State. This organization was 
in direct and palpable violation of existing laws. The 
Mexican Congress refused to recognize the separate State 
of Texas. A small body of troops was sent into the in- 
surgent territority, and driven out. The standard of re- 
belHon w^as raised. Texan agents traversed the United 
States, addressing public meetings, enlisting troops, and 
despatching military supplies to the revolted province. 
On the 2d March, 1836, the insurgents issued their de- 
claration of independence,! and fifteen days after adopted 
a Constitution establishing perpetual slavery. 

* After the Texan revokition, an alderman of the New York 
Corporation introduced a resolution, overflowing with patriot- 
ism, and calling upon Congress to acknowledge the independ- 
ence of Texas. The surprise occasioned by this extraordinary 
attempt in a civic body to influence the foreign relations of the 
national government, was dissipated by the discovery, that the 
mover of the resolution was secretary to one of the Texan land 
companies 

t Of the fifty-seven signers to this declaration, fifty were emi- 
grants from the slave States, and only three Mexicans by birth, 
and these, it is said., largely interested in Texan land snecn- 
lations. 



REVIEW OF THE MEXICAN WAR. IS 



CHAPTER III. 

PROFESSIONS AND CONDUCT OF THE FEDERAL GOVERN- 
MENT IN REFERENCE TO THE WAR BETWEEN MEXICO 
AND TEXAS. 

The Government of the United States lias at all times 
been liberal in its professions of neutrality in regard to 
belligerents, and has on various occasions endeavored to 
prevent its citizens from engaging in hostilities against 
friendly powers. In 1*793, President Washington issued 
his proclamation warning American citizens against ** com- 
mitting, aiding or abetting hostilities against any of the 
Powers at war," and threatening with prosecution all 
who should " violate the laws of nations," with respect to 
the belligerents. Washington's subsequent acts abun- 
dantly evinced the sincerity of his proclamation. 

In 1806, President Jefferson issued a proclamation de- 
claring, that " sundry persons, citizens of the United 
States, are conspiring and confederating together to be- 
gin and set on foot a military expedition against the do- 
minions of Spain ; fitting out and arming vessels in the 
western waters of the United States ; collecting arms, 
military stores and other means ;" and he commands all 
such persons to cease all further proceedings as they will 
"incur prosecutions with all the rigor of the law." He 
moreover enjoined it upon all military officers of the army 
and navy of the United States, *' to be vigilant in bring- 
ing to condign punishment persons engaged in those un- 
lawful enterprizes." 



i^O REVIEW OF *THE MEXICAN WAR. 

In 1815 a similar proclamation was issued by President 
Madison against persons chiefly in Louisiana, who were 
preparing to invade the Spanish provinces. 

In 1838, President Van Buren by proclamation inform- 
ed the citizens of tlie northern frontier who were aiding 
the Canadian rebels, that, by compi'omitting the neu- 
trality of the Government, they would render themselves 
liable to arrest and punishment, " under the laws of the 
United States, which will be rigidly enforced." 

IL thus appears that from 1793 to 1838, our Govern- 
ment had acknowledged the duty, and professed the abi- 
lity, to punish its citizens for violating the neutral obliga- 
tions of the nation. 

In 1835 and 1836, Texas was at open war with Mexico, 
part of the time as an insurgent province, and part of the 
time as a separate Republic. The first official act of the 
government manifesting its sympathy for the insurgents, 
was the appointment in 1835 oi four consuls to reside 
among them. The appointment was of itself insulting to 
the Mexican government, and was undoubtedly made for 
the purpose of stationing in Texas confidential agents who 
might facilitate the progress of revolt, independence, and 
annexation. 

The embarrassment and perplexity into which Mexico 
was thrown by the revolt of Texas, and the aid openly 
furnished the insurgents from the United States, encour- 
aged the Cabinet at Washington once more to press their 
proposal for purchase, and Mr. Butler, the minister in. 
Mexico, was instructed (16th August, 1835), to nego- 
ciate for a cession of the territory bounded by the Rio 
Grande from its source to the 3'7th degree north latitude, 
and thence to the Pacific including the whole of Texas, 
Santa Fe, and a lai*ge portion of California !* 
• Ez. Boo. 1st Sess., 25th Congress. 



REVIEW OF THE MEXICAN WAR. 21 

It may readily be supposed that the Federal adminis- 
tration was not very zealous in prohibiting succor to the 
Texans, who were laboring to secure to the United States 
a very large portion of this coveted territory. 

On the 29th October, 1835, the Mexican Minister in- 
formed the Secretary of State that no less than twelve 
vessels were about to sail from New York and New Or- 
leans with military stores, and that on the 10th of the 
month an armed schooner had sailed from New Orleans 
for Texas, without papers from the Mexican Consul, and 
he demanded the interposition of the Government to pre- 
vent such breaches of neutrality. In consequence of this 
application, the Secretary (Mr. Forsyth) addressed a cir- 
cular to various United States' Attorneys, directing them 
to " prosecute all violations of those laws of the United 
States which liave been enacted for the purpose of pre- 
serving peace and of fulfilling the obligations of treaties 
with foreign nations." The cold generality of this cir- 
cular indicated the temper and wishes of its author, which 
were no doubt perfectly understood by the prosecuting 
officers to whom the order was addressed. Notwith- 
standing the pubhcity and notoriety of the " violations," 
not an individual was ever punished for participating in 
them, nor was an officer of the Government ever dismissed 
or censured for treating the circular as a mere matter of 
form. A few months after the date of the circular, Mr. 
N. C. Read, United States' District Attorney in Ohio, 
addressed a public meeting in that State, called in aid of 
the Texans, and proposed the following resolution, which 
was adopted : — " Resolved, that no law, human or divine, 
except such as are framed by t3^rants, and for their bene- 
fit, forbids our assisting the Texans ; and such law, if any 
exists, we do not as Americans choose to obey." At the 
same meeting, a Committee was openly appointed " to 



22 RF.viEW or tii£ :vlEXlCA^• war. 

assist Captain Lawrence in raising recruits and funds for 
the cause of Texas." We have no evidence that the ex- 
traordinary conduct of the Ohio prosecuting officer im- 
paired the confidence the Government had placed in him^ 
jS"evertheles3, Mr. Forsyth assured the Mexican Minister 
that " all measures enjoined and warranted by law have 
been and will continue to be taken to enforce respect by 
the citizens of the United States within their jurisdiction 
to the neutrality of this Government." 

The declaration of Mr. Van Buren, the personal fiiend 
of General Jackson, and his successor in office, is a 
singular commentary on this official and solemn pledge. 
*' Nothing is either more t)ue or more extensively known, 
than that Texas was wrested from Mexico, and her in- 
dependence estabhshed through the instrumentality of 
citizens of the United States." * 

To a second remonstrance from the Mexican Minister 
against the aid so openly and scandalously afforded by 
American citizens to the Texans, Mr. Forsyth returned, 
29th January, 1836, the following most extraordinary 
reply : " No sooner was it apparent that the dispute 
between Texas and the do?ninant party in the other Mexi- 
can States would be carried to extremities, and indications 
observed of a design in some of the citizens of the United 
States to take a part in the struggle, all the measures in, 
his 2)0wer were adopted by the President to prevent any 
interference that could by possibility involve the United 
States in the dispute, or give just occasion for suspicions 
of an unfriendly design on the part of the Government to 
intermeddle in the domestic quarrel of a neighboring 
State." 

Six days before these solemn and official assurances 
were given, a coui'se of measures had been commenced 

* Printed Letter to Mr. Ilammet, 20th April, 1844. 



RKVIEW OF TUK MES.IC-VX VfAR. 23 

by the President whicli exhibits the veiy peculiar view he 
■was pleased to take of neutral obligations, 
. On the 2Srd January, General Gaines was directed to 
take a position near the western frontier ot the State of 
Louisiana, to prevent the contending parties from enter- 
ing into the United States' territory ! He was reminded 
that, by treaty with Mexico, each power is required to 
prevent by force " all hostilities and incursions on the 
part of Indian nations within their respective boundaries." 
Supposing this order to have been given in good faith, its 
sole object could have been to protect the Texans from 
assaults by American Indians. There was no reason 
whatever to apprehend that the Texans, Americans them- 
selves, and daily receiving supplies from their country- 
men, would make hostile incursions into the American 
territory. The Mexicans had neither the disposition nor 
the ability to invade the United States. There was, more- 
over, no proof that the American Indians intended any 
aggressions upon the Texans. The army Avas stationed 
on the frontier of Texas for objects very dilTerent from 
those which were avowed. Commanded by a General 
devoted to the cause of annexation, it gave countenance 
and support to the Texans in their struggle ; and, should 
more efMcient aid be needed, no small portion of its men, 
arms, and ammunition, would readily find their way into 
the Texan camp. It is to be observed, moreover, that 
Gaines was not directed to prevent American citizens 
from compromitting the neutrahty of the Government, 
Begirnents raised in the Southern States might freely pa'^s 
his tent on their way to wage vrar against a fiiendly 
power. In deference to our treaty stipulations, Indians 
wei-e to be restrained from enterinof Mexico ; but foes far 



-fcs 



more dangerous to the Mexicans th 



an 



have free admittance. General Gaines was a willino: in 



24 KEVIEW OF flTHE MEXICAN WAR. 

stniment ; and, in acknowledging the receipt of the orders 
sent to him, showed that lie thoroughly understood tht^< 
purposes for which they were issued. "Should I (said 
he in his letter to the Secretary of War of 29th March, 
1836,*) find any disposition on the part of the Mexicans 
or their red brethren to menace our frontiei*, I cannot but 
deem it my duty, not only to hold the troops of my com- 
mand in readiness for action, in defence of our slender 
frontier, but to anticipate their lawless movements by 
crossing our supposed or imagirwiry national boundary, 
and meeting the savage m.arauders wherever they may be 
found in their approach towards our frontier." In other 
vrords, he v/ould march to the rescue of Texas, should the 
Mexican forces advance into the revolted province. A 
few days after the date of this letter, the General, in his 
hot zeal, made a requisition on the Governors of Louis- 
iana, Mississippi, Alabama, and Tennessee, each for a 
battalion of volunteers to p)rotect the frontiers !. The Ge- 
neral and the Cabinet acted in perfect unison. The for- 
mer had hinted his readiness to cross the imaginanj 
boundary, for the purpose of anticipatinr/ the approach of 
the Mexicans. The latter, on the 25th April, informed 
him there was reason to believe the Indians would be in- 
duced to join the Mexicans, and in that case, should the 
contending parties approach the frontier, he may advance 
as far as Nacogdoches. On the 4th May, he is informed 
** that the Secretary of War had written to the Governors 
of Louisiana, Mississippi, Tennessee, Kentucky, and Ala- 
bama, requiring them to fui-nish hira with such militia 
force as he may require to protect the Western frontier of 
the United States from hostile incursions." The General 
had, on his own responsibility, called for four battalions 
from four States. The President, still more provident, 
* Ex. Doc, Ist Sess. 24th Cong. Vol. 6. 



REVIEW OF THE MEXICAN WAR. 25 

gives him power to call for an unlimited number of Militia 
from no less than jive States. And why were these vast 
powers confided to Gaines ? — and what and where was 
the enemy against whom this unnumbered Militia was to 
be poured forth by all these States ? Xot an Indian, not 
a Texan, not a Mexican, had invaded our territory. The 
country was at peace ; nor were there even rumors of ap- 
proaching war. To understand the management of Gaines 
and his employers, it must be recollected that adventurers 
were now flocking to Texas, and that Texan agents were 
organizing in the Southern States mihtary expeditions to 
rescue the province from the dominion of Mexico. A let- 
ter from one of these men, Fehx Houston, dated Natchez, 
Mississippi, 4th March, 1836, and published in the jour- 
nals of the day, will suffice to show the character of these 
expeditions. " I contemplate starting for Texas about 1st 
May next, and expect to take with me about five hundred 
emigrants. I am making preparations for arms, ammuni- 
tion, uniforms, &c., &c., at an expense of $4:0,000. I shall 
have a rendezvous, and begin to send on supplies by the 
1st May." Of course, such expeditions were a drain 
upon the pockets of slaveholders, as well as upon the 
treasury of Texas. The device of the Cabinet, in per- 
mitting General Gaines to collect volunteers on the fron- 
tier of Texas, from no less than five States, at the public 
expense, obviated the only serious difficulty experienced in 
raising within the United States a military force for wrest- 
ing Texas from Mexico, Recruits for Texas might now, 
under the requisitions of the President, and the plenipo- 
tentiary discretion of the General, be equipped and trans- 
ported from the neighboring States to Nacogdoches, in 
Texas, at the cost of the United States. When once in 
Texas, they might fight the Mexicans if they pleased, but 
they were sent there to ''protect ike frontier ;'' and, in 



26 REVIEW OF THE MEXICAN' WAR. 

sending' them for such a purpose, the President of course 
violated none of the obligutions of neutrality, and afforded 
the Mexicans no cause for complaint ! General Gaines 
had been authorized to advance as far as Nacogdoches ; 
but circumstances might occur to render it expedient for 
him to go still farther, and the administration boldly re- 
served to themselves the privilege of sending him and his 
army wherever they pleased. The Mexican Minister very 
naturally remonstrated against the invasion of Mexican 
territory by the American army. Mr. Forsyth very coolly 
replied (May 10th), ''that to protect Mexico from Ame- 
rican Indians, and to protect our frontiers from Mexican 
Indians, our troops might, if necessar}^ be sent into the 
heart of Mexico. '' 

It would seem that neither General McComb, the Com- 
mander-in-Chief of the army, nor the Governor of Louis- 
iana, had been admitted into the secrets of the Cabinet, 
On the 28th of April, the former addressed a letter to 
the Secretary of War, from New Orleans, informing him 
that the Governor insists that it is unnecessary " to send 
to the frontiers of the State any troops, as the country 
was not invaded, nor likely in his opinion to be invaded ; 
and further, he was impressed with the belief, that it was 
a scheme of those interested in the Texan speculations, 
who had been instrumental in making General Gaines 
beheve that the Mexican authorities were tampering with 
the Indians within our boundaries ; and at the same time 
exciting, by false representations here, the sympathies of 
the people in favor of the Texans, with a view of inducing 
the authorities of the United States to lend their aid in 
raising in this city a force composed of interested persons, 
who should move to the Texan frontier under the call of 
General Gaines, and afterwards, under false pretensions, 
(juctually march into Texas, and take part in the war noiv 



I 



REVIEW OF TtiE MEXICAN WAft. ^t 

Waging between the Texans and the Government of Mexico / 
and all this at the exjjense of the United States, and con-^ 
sequently with the implied sanction of the Government.'''' 

This letter affords an ariiusing instance of the simplicity 
of the commanding G-eneral, who supposed he was giving 
information to the Government when detailing the natu- 
ral and intended consequences of its own measures. The 
General did not know what is proved by official docu* 
tiients, that the device of placing an army on the frontiers 
of Texas originated with the Cabinet, and not with Gaines. 

The troopsj in obedience to orders from Washington, 
inarched into Texas, and took a position at Kacogdoches^ 
Immediately, Houston, the Texan President, issued his 
proclamation, pretendmg that the Indians were about to 
attack Nacogdoches, and calling on the miHtia " to sus- 
tain the United States troops at this place," and to report 
themselves to the United States Comjnander. The object 
of the proclamation was two-fold, firsts to impress both 
Texans and Mexicans with the mihtary aid to be granted 
the former by the United States, — and secondly, to arrays 
as soon as possible, the Texan militia, under the Ameri- 
can General. 

An American officer at l*lacogdoches, indignant at the 
perfidious conduct of the Government^ thus gave vent to 
his indignation in a letter published at the time in the 
Army and N'avy Chronicle, Speaking of the object of 
taking their present position, he remarked, " It is to cre- 
ate the impression in Texas and Mexico, that the Govern- 
ment of the United States takes a part in the controversy. 
It is in fact lending to the cause of Texas all the aid which 
it can derive from the countenance and apparent support 
of the United States, besides placing our troops in a situ- 
ation to take an active part in aid of the Texans, in case a 
reverse of their affairs should render aid necessary." 



28 REVIEW OF THE MEXICAN V^AR. 

One of the practical results of sending troops into 
Texas is given in the following extract from the Pensacola 
Gazette: — ''About the middle of last month, General 
Gaines sent an officer of the United States army into 
Texas, to reclaim some deserters. He found them already 
enHsted in the Texan service, to the number of two hun- 
dred. They still wore the uniform of our army, but re- 
fused, of course, to return. This is a neio vieiv of our 
Texan relations.'^ 

When our troops were no longer needed in Texas, they 
were withdrawn, and sent to fight the Seminoles in Flo- 
rida. General Gaines now issued a proclamation, offering 
a full jyardon to those who had " absented themseh'es 
from their regiments," provided they returned by a cer- 
tain day. As these absentees, commonly called deserters, 
had been serving the cause of slavery in Texas, the mercy 
of the General was cordially extended to them. 

When the Government thus evinced its sympathy for 
Texas, and sent its army among the insurgents to counte- 
nance, and, if necessary, protect them, it could not be 
expected that the partisans of Texas in the United States, 
would be very regardful of the laws of neutrality. A few 
extracts from the journals of that day Avill show the pub- 
licity with which the people of the United States made 
war upon a friendly power : — 

" Who will go to Texas ? Major J. W. Harvey of 
Lincolnton, has been authorized by me, with the consent 
of Major- General Hunt, an agent in the western counties 
of North CaroHna, to receive and enrol volunteer emi- 
grants to Texas, and will conduct such as may msh to 
emigrate to that Republic, about the 1st October next, at 
the expense of the Republic of Texas. 

*' J. P. Henderson, 
" Brig.-Gen. of the Texan Army." 



REVIEW OF THE MEXICAN WAR. 29 

" Three hundred Men for Texas. General Dunlap 
of Tennessee is about to proceed to Texas with the above 
number of men. Every man is completely armed, the 
corps having been originally raised for the Florida 
War." 

"This morning more than 200 men, commanded by- 
Colonel Wilson, and on their way to Texas, passed this 
place in the Tuskina, with drums beating and fifes play- 
ing. They will be followed by 300 men more, all from 
old Kentucky." 

In vain did the Mexican Minister, from time to time, 
call the attention of the Government to these violations of 
neutrality. Notwithstanding the solemn and repeated 
assurances given by the Secretary of State, not a serious 
effort was made to arrest the tide of war which was roll- 
ing from the United States upon the Mexican territory. 
No proclamation was issued, warning our citizens of their 
duties and responsibilities ; no instructions were given, as 
in former instances, to miUtary officers, to arrest the vio- 
lators of our neutrality. Jefferson had succeeded in 
bringing a man, lately one of the highest functionaries in 
the country, to trial, for secretly planning an invasion of 
the Spanish dominions. Jackson, one of the most ener- 
getic Presidents that ever occupied the executive chair, 
never enforced the penalties of the law on one individual 
of the many thousands who openly perpetrated the crime 
which Burr had only designed. 

When commanding in the southern department. General 
Jackson thought proper to put to death two foreigners, 
named Arbuthnot and Ambrister, accused of aiding the 
Indians in their hostilities, and thus expressed himself in 
his order for their execution : — " It is an estabhshed prin- 
ciple of the law of nations, that any individual, of any 
nation, making war against the citizens of another nation, 
3* 



30 REVIEW OF THE MEXICAN WAR. 

they being at peace, forfeits his allegiance, and becomes 
an outlaw and a pirate." 

The " established principle of the law of nations," an- 
nounced by the General, was not recognized by the Pre- 
sident when his own personal and political friends were 
the outlaws and pirates, and were struggling to effect an 
object most dear to. his own heart. On the 10th May, 
1836, General Gaines transmitted to the President the 
news of the victory of the Texans at San Jacinto, o^er 
Santa Anna, and indulged the anticipation that in conse- 
quence of the \actory, " this magnificent acquisition to 
OUR union " would grace his administration. 



REVIEW OP THE MEXICAN WAR. ^ 31 



CHAPTER IV. 

EFFORTS OF THE ADMINISTRATION TO EXCITE A WAR WITH 
MEXICO- 

The distracted and exhausted state of Mexico, the energy 
and rapidily increasing numbers of the Texans, the vast 
supphes tliey were daily receiving from the United States, 
together with the presence of a friendly army, ready, 
when necessary, to interpose between them and the 
enemy, ail combined to render the issue of the struggle 
certain. Texas, it was seen, would become independent 
of Mexico- But her independence would not necessarily 
add to the political power of the slave-holding interest in 
the United States. For this purpose annexation was in- 
dispensable. But annexation could not be effected at 
present, without drawing after it a war with Mexico, and 
this obvious consequence strengthened the objections en- 
tertained to the measure at the North. It was well 
ascertained that no treaty of annexation, especially at the 
price of a Mexican war, would at present receive the 
sanction of Congress. But, if Mexico could be induced to 
commence hostilities against the United States, or should 
her conduct justify a declaration of war against her, then 
one powerful obstacle to annexation would be removed, 
and Texas would become ours, by right of conquest, and 
with the unanimous consent of her inhabitants. Every 
attempt to purchase Texas had failed, and all hope of ac- 
quiring it by this means, was abandoned on the termina- 
tion of Mr. Butler's fruitless mission. From this time, the 



32 REVIEW OF THE MEXICAN WAR. 

policy of the administration was to force Mexico into a 
war. The commencement of this new policy was the ad- 
vance of American troops into Texas, on the pretence of 
protecting the frontier against Indians. 

On tlie oth of August, 1836, the President, in a letter 
to the Governor of Tennessee, countermanded a requisi- 
sition by Gaines for troops, assigning this remarkable rea- 
son : " There is no information to justify the ajyprehension 
of hostilities to any serious extent from the Western In- 
dians .'' 

The victory of San Jacinto had now been won, and the 
President probably thought that General Gaines's zeal in 
behalf of Texas was putting the country to unnecessary 
expense. Why the order countermanding the General's 
requisition was not given through the Secretary of AYar 
does not appear. Possibly it w^as deemed most prudent 
not to put the important admission we have quoted, on 
record in the War Office, and it is to some accident or 
carelessness- that we are indebted for this letter, among 
the official documents published by Congress. Let its 
date be kept in mind, oth August, 1836. 

On the 10th of the succeeding September, the Mexican 
Minister at Washington wrote to the Secretary of State, 
and, referring to some newspaper statements that the 
United States troops had invaded the Mexican territory, 
averred that, if this invasion was sanctioned by the Gov- 
ernment, his mission must terminate. And what reply 
was returned? Did the Government apologize for the 
invasion as having been induced by false reports ? Did it 
acknowledge, that there was now ''no infoi-mation to 
justify the apprehension of hostihties to any serious ex- 
tent from our Western Indians," and that therefore the 
troops should be immediately recalled ? Far different was 
the response returned. The Secretary of State admitted 



REVIEW OF THE MEXICAN WAR. 33 

that American troops were then stationed at Nagadoches, 
and further, that on the ith of that month the Pjesident had 
instructed General Gaines to enter the Mexican territory, 
if he shall be satisfied, " that any body of Indians who 
disturb the peace of the frontier of the United States, 
receive assistance or shelter within the Mexican terri- 
tory." 

The Minister denied that Mexico had any wish to ex- 
cite the Indians against the United States, and he formally 
demanded the withdrawal of the troops from the Mexican 
territory (Texas). This demand was, on the 13th Octo- 
ber, met by a flat refusal — a refusal coupled with insult. 
The Minister was informed by our Secretary of State, that 
by treaty each party was bound to restrain its own Indi- 
ans from making hostile incursions upon the territories of 
the other ; and, as Mexico had not the ability to fulfil her 
engagement, the United States had. the right in self- 
defence to occupy her territory. Not a particle of evi- 
dence was adduced to show that the frontiers of the 
United States were menaced by Mexican Indians — not an 
argument advanced to prove the necessity of our army 
advancing into Texas in self-defence, and the whole pre- 
text is stamped with the brand of impudent falsehood, by 
the confession made to the Governor of Tennessee by the 
President in the letter we have quoted. 

Two days after this insult to Mexico, her Minister de- 
manded his passports.^' This was a great point gained 
by the administration. Diplomatic intercourse with Mex- 
ico was so far interrupted ; and the rupture, if properly 
managed, might result in war, and consequently in annex- 
ation. While in the very act of inflicting the grossest 
outrages upon Mexico, and amid professions of neutrality 
as ardent as they were false, the administration thought it 

* See Ex. Doc, 2fl Sess., 24tli Co^^. Vol J. 



34 REVIEW OF THE MEXICAN WAR. 

expedient to raise a note of wailing for the injuries com- 
mitted by Mexico upon American citizens, accompanied 
with the most obstreperous clamors for compensation. 

The public have heard much, but understood little, 
about " Our claims upon Mexico." It is not probable that 
one in a thousand of those who declaim about Mexican 
outrages, as justifying the Avar against that Repubhc, 
know whereof they affirm. Before entering upon an ex- 
amination of our claims upon Mexico, it may be well to 
state two of the general principles which, by the laws and 
usages of nations, limit the interference of a government 
in behalf of the demands of its citizens upon foreign pow- 
ers for the redress of alleged grievances. 

Complaints growing out of contracts entered into by 
citizens of one country with the Government of another, 
are not properly subjects for international discussion. 
Our Government would not tolerate for a moment, a re- 
monstrance from the British Cabinet in behalf of an Eng- 
lishman employed in our arsenals or ship-yards, who 
complained that he had not been paid his stipulated 
wages. 

Where by treaty a foreigner is entitled to seek redress 
in the courts of the country in which his alleged injury 
has been received, his Government is not permitted to 
convert his wrong, whether real or imaginary, into a 
national grievance. Should an English subject be as- 
saulted in our streets, defrauded by his debtor, or falsely 
imprisoned by a police officer,, his Government could not 
demand of ours redress for his sutferings. Were these 
two principles to be disregarded, and were Governments 
to insist on sitting in judgment on the contracts their sub- 
jects might form with foreign powers, or on the quarrels 
in which they might be involved abroad, it is very evident 
that the peace of the world would be perpetually dis- 



REVIEW OF THE MEXICAN WAR. 35 

turbed. Yet these principles, as we shall see hereafter, 
have been set at naught in many of the claims preferred 
by the American Government on that of Mexico. 

But the subject of these claims is so important in itself, 
and so indicative of the determination of the Cabinet at 
Washington to provoke a war with Mexico, as to demand 
a separate chapter. 



36 REVIEW OF THE MEXICAN WAR. 



CHAPTER V. 

CLAIMS ON MEXICO, AND WAR RECOMMENDED BY THE PRESI- 
DENT TO ENFORCE THEM. 

On the 20tli July, 1836, shortly after the victory of San 
Jacinto, and the captivity of the President of Mexico, the 
Secretaiy of State sent to Mr. Ellis, our Minister, a list of 
fifteen complaints against the RepubHc, accompanied with 
the strange acknowledgment that " the Department is 
not in possession of iwoof of all the circumstances of the 
wrong done in the above cases, as represented by the 
aggrieved parties." The Cabinet deemed it expedient to 
prefer the complaints without loss of time, and to 'seek 
afterwards for proof to establish them. 

But the most extraordinary part of this procedure, and 
which reveals the anxiety of the Government to bring on 
a rupture with Mexico, is the course prescribed to Elhs. 
He is ordered to demand such reparation " as these accu- 
mulated wrongs may be found to require." If no satis- 
factory answer shall be given in three iveeks, he ■kits to 
announce, that, unless redress shall be afforded without 
unnecessaiy delay, his further residence would be useless. 
If this threat proved unavailing, he was to notify the 
Government that, unless a satisfactory answer was re- 
turned in two iveelcs, he should ask for his passport, and 
at the expiration of the fortnight, he is to return home, if 
no satisfactory answer is received. The Mexican Minister 
had already, for the reasons we have stated, left Wash- 
ington ; and here we see a contrivance for withdrawing our 



REVIEW OF THE MEXICAN WAR. 3? 

Minister from Mexico in a manner highly irritating and 
insulting. All diplomatic relations between the two coun- 
tries being thus interrupted, and for the alleged reason 
that Mexico had refused to pay our just demands, the way 
would be open for rejwisals, and consequently war would 
follow. 

It will be observed, too, that the responsibility of tak- 
ing the momentous step which was almost necessarily to 
lead to hostilities, was adroitly thrown upon the discretion 
of a Mississippi slaveholder, eager to enlarge the slave 
territory by the annexation of Texas. Mr. Ellis was to 
judge whether the reparation offered was such as our 
" accumulated wrongs" required ; he was to decide what 
was unnecessary delay, and he alone to determine whether 
the answers he received were or were not satisfactory. 

We will now notice the fifteen grievances, the redress 
of which in a manner which Mr. Powhatten ElUs might 
deem suflEiciently satisfactory and -prompt, was to be the 
sine qua nan of peace or war. We entreat the reader's 
patience while we enumerate these grievances, and the 
replies to them, because as he will see hereafter, it was for 
these that our diplomatic intercom-se with Mexico was 
broken off, and that the President recommended to Con- 
gress, a measm-e equivalent to a declaration of war. The 
claims afterguards urged, can Of course afford no justifica- 
tion or apology for the conduct of the administration, 
founded exclusively on the fifteen transmitted to Mr. 
Ellis. They w^ere in substance as follows : 

1. An American, of the name of Baldwin, had in 1832, 
unjust judgments given against him in the Mexican courts, 
and on one occasion, on account of an altercation between 
him and a magistrate, he was sentenced to the stocks. 
He resisted, and attempted to escape, and fell and injured 
4 



38 REVIEW OF THE MEXICAN WAR. 

his leg. He was thereupon seized, put into the stocks, 
and afterwards imprisoned. 

2. The American vessel Topaz, was chartered by the 
Mexican Government in 1832, to convey troops. The 
master and mate, were murdered by the soldiers, the crew 
imprisoned, and the vessel seized and use<iin the Mexican 
service. 

5. The American vessel Brazoria, was seized in 1832, and 
employed in a military expedition, without compensation. 

4. Two American steamboats were taken possession of 
by Mexican officers, and used without compensation, 
in 1832. 

3. Capt. McKeige svas imprisoned at Tabasco, in 1834, 
and an enormous fine imposed upon him, " without cause.'* 

G. The American vessel Paragon, was causelessly fired 
into by a Mexican schooner, in 1834. 

7. The American brig Ophir, was seized and con- 
demned in 1835, at Campeachy, because by some mistake, 
the proper papers were not shown at the Custom-house. 

8. The American vessel Martha, was seized at Galves- 
ton, in 1835, for alleged violation of the revenue laws, 
and the passengers, accused of an intention to use fire 
arras against a guard placed on board, were put in irons. 

9. The American vessel Hannah Ehzabeth, Stranded in 
1835, on the coast, was boarded by soldiers, and theTfrew 
imprisoned, and pillaged of their clothes. The crew were 
afterwards released. 

10. Two American citizens were arrested in Metamoras, 
in 1836, by a party of soldiers, who struck one of them 
in the face with a sword. They were temporarily confined 
on suspicion of an intention to proceed to Texas. Sen- 
tinels were placed at the Consul's door, under false pre- 
tences. Soldiers broke into his gate, searched his house, 
and took from his vard a mnre and two mules. 



REVIEW OF THE MEXICAN WAR. 39 

11. Mr. Slocum, bearer of despatches, was in 1836, 
detained and fined, for carrying official letters. 

12. The American schooner Eclipse, was in 1836, 
detained at Tabasco, and her master and crew, mal-treated 
by the authorities. 

13. The American schooner Compeer, and other vessels, 
were in 1836, forcibly detained at Metamoras. 

14. The United States revenue-cutter Jefferson, in 
1836, arrived oif the harbor of Tampico, and was forbidden 
to enter. An officer and boat's crew, on landing, were 
temporarily arrested. 

- 15. The American vessel Northampton, was wrecked 
in 1836, near Tabasco, and taken possession of by Cus- 
tom-house officers and soldiers. The crew remonstrated, 
and the captain was wounded. More than half of the 
goods saved from the wreck were pillaged, and lost, by the 
revenue officers and soldiers. The Consul complained, 
but obtained no redress. 

Such are the fifteen " accumulated wrongs," complained 
of by the American Government, and ordered to be for- 
mally presented by Mr. Ellis. It will be observed, that 
not one of them is alleged to have been committed by the 
Mexican Government. No law, no act of the Government, 
is complained of. Custom-house officers may act illegally, 
and soldiers may commit outrages, police officers and 
magistrates may be guilty of oppression, and yet the 
Government be wholly ignorant of the offences committed. 
Millions and millions of American property have been 
seized, by virtue of orders issued directly by the Govern- 
ments of England and France ; yet in no intstance, did 
the American Cabinet venture to hazard the peace of the 
countiy, by demanding reparation within a specified 
number of clays. On the contrary, the settlement of our 
claims upon other nations, was preceded by protracted 



40 REVIEW OF THE MEXICAN WAR. 

negotiations. Our claims for the value of slaves carried 
away by the British forces, m 1815, were not settled and 
paid, till 1826. Indemnity for French spoliations on our 
commerce, from 1800 to 1813, was not received till 1834. 
In these cases, our claims were not a pretext for war, and 
consequently their payment was not hazarded by an 
insulting demand for a satisfactory reply in two lueeks. 

Several of the fifteen complaints we have enumerated, 
if well founded, did not justify national interference, 
being injuries for which the sufferers were entitled to seek 
redress in the Mexican courts ; others were proper sub- 
jects for inquiry and remonstrance ; not one afforded a 
legitimate cause for war, for not one had been ordered, or 
as yet justified by the Mexican Government. 

The extreme haste with which Mexico was required to 
redress these complaints, is the more extraordinary when 
we recollect, that the alleged grievances were mostly of 
recent date. The complaint of Baldwin, was the oldest, 
viz. : five years standing ; three others occurred four years 
before, two in 1834, three in 1835, and the other nine 
within less than twelve months of the instructions to 
Mr. Ellis. 

It so happened, that before Mr. Forsyth's despatch 
reached the minister, two of the fifteen wrongs, the 
eleventh and fourteenth, had been settled to the satisfac- 
tion of the latter. Through the ignorance of a Post-master, 
Mr. Slocum had been fined $6, for a supposed violation of 
the law in carrying letters. The government, on learning 
the affair, censured the Post-master, and remitted the fine. 
The revenue cutter Jefferson was refused admittance 
into the harbor of Tampico, only because the port was 
closed against all foreign vessels, without exception ; and 
the commander of Tampico, had been removed for his 



REVIEW OF THE MEXICAN WAR. 41 

harshness in teraporaiily confining the American officer 
and crew who had landed. 

On the 26th September, Ellis laid before the Mexican 
Minister in writing, the thirteen remaining grievances, and 
was promptly assured that they would be investigated. 
As most of these complaints related to acts recently com- 
mitted by Custom-house officers and other officials, it was 
probable that the letter of the 26 th September, was the 
first notice of them, that the Government had ever re- 
ceived ; yet on the 20th October following, less than/oz/r 
weelcs from the date of the first letter, Ellis announced to 
the Government, that unless the wrongs complained of, 
are redressed without unnecessary delay, " his farther resi- 
dence in Mexico would be useless." 

To this insulting missive, a calm, dignified reply was 
returned the next day. Ellis is reminded that a delay in 
answering a note is not a sufficient cause for breaking off 
a negotiation ; and that, to decide on the grievances pre- 
sented, documents were to be collected from various offices 
in different parts of the Republic. He was informed, that 
measures had already been taken to procure the requisite 
documents, and promised that, when these were received, 
the decision of the government would be communicated 
to him. Well did John Quincy Adams remark in a note 
to his printed speech in Congress in 1838, "From the 
day of the battle of San Jacinto, every movement of the 
adm.inistration of this Union appears to have been made 
for the express purpose of breaking off negotiations, and 
precipitating a war, or of frightening Mexico into the ces- 
sion of not only Texas, but the whole co2irse of the Rio del 
Norte, and five degrees of latitude across their continent to 
the South Sea. vThe instructions of the 20th July, 1836, 
from the Secretary of State to Mr. Ellis almost imme- 
diately after the battle, were evidently premeditated to 
4* 



42 REVIEW OF THE MEXICAN WAR. 

produce rupture, and were^ but too faithfully carried into 
execution. His (Ellis's) letter of the 20th October, 1836, 
to Mr. Monosterio was the premonitory symptom, and no 
true-hearted citizen of this union can read it, and the 
answer to it on the next day by Mr. Monasterio, without 
blushing for his country." But neither Ellis nor his em- 
ployers were in the habit of blushing ; and on the 4th 
November the Minister, in pursuance of his instructions, 
gave formal notice that, unless his complaints were satis- 
factorily answered in two weeks, he should demand his 
passports ! 

It was only to a feeble nation, and one whose hostility 
was courted for ulterior designs, that the administration 
would have hazarded such insolence. Mexico, sensible 
of her feebleness, did not resent the insult, and Mr. ElUs 
received an answer within the number of days he had as- 
signed. The Mexican Secretary remarked that, by the 
existing treaty, citizens of either country were entitled to 
bring their grievances before the tribunals of the other, and 
hence it was unnecessary for their respective governments 
to interfere to procure that justice for them which the courts 
of law were ready to afford •/' and that complaints against 

* The 14tli Art. of the treaty between the United States and 
Mexico guaranteed protection to the persons and property of 
the citizens of each, "leaving open and free to them the tjpibu- 
nals of jvistice for their judicial recourse, on the same terms 
which are usual and customary with the natives or citizens of 
the country in which they may be." Mr. Forsyth availed him- 
self of this article of the treaty in his reply (January 29th, 
1836), to a demand from the Mexican Government for the pun- 
ishment of the Captain of an American armed ship, for an al- 
leged outrage committed by him on a Mexican vessel. The Sec- 
retary remarked, '■"That the courts of the United States are freely 
open to all persons in their jiirisdictum, who may consider themselves 
to have been aggrieved in contravention of o^ir laws and treaties." 
This application of the treaty to Mexican complaints was ex- 
ceedingly convenient ; but its application to American complaints 
was indignantly refused by Mr. Ellis in his reply of the IStli 
November of the same year. He declared that " the opinion ex- 



REVIEW V OF THE MEXICAN WAR. 43 

officers of the customs should not be made subjects of ne- 
gociation, for the reason that Americans have the same 
means of redress in the tribunals of the country as the 
Mexicans themselves. Nevertheless, the government ^dll 
not decline to examine the complaints preferred by Mr. 
Elhs. These, it will be recollected, had been reduced to 
thirteen, and they were thus answered : 

1. As to Mr. Baldwin, whatever may have been his 
wrongs, he ought to have sought redress in Mexican 
courts. It was probabla his behavior had been improper, 
as six criminal prosecutions were pending against him. 
The government had no power to interfere between liti- 
gant parties in courts of justice ; but it had signified to 
the authorities the wish that justice might be awarded to 
Baldwin with promptitude and impartiality. 

2. The government understands that the Topaz which 
was chartered to convey troops, was wrecked ; that, after 
she was stranded, and while the soldiers were in the hold, 
the American crew shut the hatches upon them, and mur- 
dered three Mexican officers who were upon deck. That 
the object of the crew was to carry off the money on 
board ; that the soldiers forced the hatches, attacked the 
crew, killed one, and secured the others for trial. 

3. The Brazoria was pressed into the service of the 
Texan colonists by Austin, and had been abandoned by 
herowner with protest for loss and damages. The Minis- 
ter of War had ordered her to be sold, and the proceeds 
paid into the treasury. On proof of ownership, the 
Government was ready to pay an equitable indemnity. 

4. As to the steam-boats detained, the government had 

pressed by tlie Hon. Mr. Monasterio which limits the citizens 
of the United States liaving certain claims against the Govern- 
ment, to resort to the judicial tribunals of Mexico for indem- 
nity, is wholly indefensible." 
Ex. Documents, 24th Congress, 2 Sess., Vol. 3., Doc. 139. 



44 REVIEW OF THE MEXICAN WAR. 

a contract with the ownep, who is now in debt to the 
Government. Notliing is due to him ; but if he thinks 
otherwise, let him establish his claims before the tri- 
bunals. 

5. The cage of Captain Keige has been investigated, 
and the Government has ordered the offending officer to 
be prosecuted, and will indemnify Captain Keige. 

6. Orders ha\'e been given for the trial of the officer 
who fired into the Paragon ; but the result of the trial is 
not yet known. 

7. In the case of the Ophir no wrong was done. The 
vessel was properly condemned for want of the necessary 
papers. An appeal was taken to a higher court, before 
which the missing papers were produced, and the vessel 
discharged. 

8. The Government is wholly ignorant of the case of 
the Martha, and has called for, but not yet received, in- 
formation upon the subject. 

9. In regard to the case of the Hannah Elizabeth, the 
government had called for, but not yet received, a state- 
ment of the transaction. 

10. The Government is ignorant of the proceedings at 
Metamoras, and has called for information. 

This information was soon after received, and Mr.s^llis 
was informed that, on the arrival at Metamoras of the 
commander of that city ; he understood that two stran- 
gers had just departed, who were supposed to be Texan 
spies. He sent four dragoons after them, who saw them 
enter a house in the outskirts of the city. Finding a mare 
and two mules in the yard, the soldiers removed the ani- 
mals to prevent the escape of the strangers. The soldiers 
then entered the house, and arrested the two men, who 
on examination were found to have passports, and were 
allowed to proceed on their journey, and the animals were 



REVIEW OF THE MEXICAN WAR. 45 

returned. It was not till after the affair that the com- 
mandant learned that the house was occupied by the 
American Consul. 

11. The Government was uninformed of the affair of 
the Eclipse, but would make the proper inquiries. 

12. The Compeer and other vessels were detained a 
few days at Metamoras, in consequence of a general em- 
bargo on all vessels without distinction, imposed by the 
Commander of that department, without the knowledge 
of the Government, which disapproved of and revoked it. 

13. The Government knows nothing of the case of the 
Northampton, but has called for information. 

Such were " the accumulated wrongs " for which the 
Cabinet determined to break off all intercourse with 
Mexico. It is rare, indeed, that diplomatic history exhi- 
bits a series of national complaints so trivial in themselves, 
urged with so much spleen and arrogance on the one 
side, or met Avith so much fairness and good temper on 
the other. To the thirteen grievances forwarded from 
Washington, Mr. Ellis had thought proper to add five 
more without instructions, and we therefore continue the 
catalogue of grievances, viz. : 

14. The American Consul at Tampico had. May 26th, 
1836, been summoned by the authorities to authenticate 
certain papers, and on his refusal had been threatened 
with imprisonment. — To this it was replied, that the Go- 
vernment was ignorant of the circumstances, but would 
investigate the matter. 

15. The American vessel, Peter D. Vroom, being 
wrecked on the coast, June, 1836, the American Consul 
had the cargo brought to Yera Cruz, where the consignee 
abandoned it to the underwriters. Whereupon the Mexi- 
can Com't appointed an agent for the underwriters, who 
sold the cargo, and the demand of the American Consul 



46 REVIEW OF TliE MEXICAN WAK. 

to feceive the proceeds was refused. — To this tlie Mexi- 
can Secretary replied, that as the underwriters had ap- 
pointed no agent, the Court did right to appoint one for 
them, and that the Consul had no official authority in the 
premises. 

16. Ellis complained that copies of certain judicial pro- 
ceedinsrs in the case of the brior Aurora had been refused 
to the American Consul. — He was informed that the 
copies were offered to him, but that he refused to pay the 
legal fees charged for making the copies. 

17. The American vessel Bethlehem was seized by a 
Mexican armed vessel on the 2nd September, 1836, and 
the crew detained twenty days, and then landed, the ves- 
sel confiscated, and the captain refused a copy of the 
proceedings. — The Government knew nothing of the affair, 
but would make inquiries- 

18. The American vessel Fourth of July had been 
taken possession of by Mexican soldiers.— It turned out 
that the vessel had been built for the Mexican Govern- 
ment. The agent had contracted before a notary for the 
sale ; but a party of soldiers had been sent on board pre- 
vious to the delivery of the bill of sale. The owner had 
been paid for his vessel, and made no complaint.* 

We have now the sum-total of all the complaints against 
Mexico, which the joint efforts of Messrs. Forsy%h and 
Ellis could collect. We can readily imagine the stomi of 
indignation and resentment which such a budget presented 
by the British Government to that at Washington, with a 
demand for a satisfactory ansv»^er in fourteen days, would 
raise throughout the length and breadth of the Federal 

* Mr. Forsyth having heard of this case, wrote to Ellis, De- 
cember 9th, 1836, as " the owners of the brig Fourth of July 
are content," he is not to insist on the restoration of the vessel, 
but onl}'- to demand satisfaction for the insult offered to the 
American Flag ! ! 



REVIEW OF THE MEXICAN WAR, 4? 

Republic. The tone assumed by Mr. Ellis was not less 
offensive than the pretended grievances themselves. Of 
that tone, we may form some opinion from the dignified 
conclusion of the Mexican answer : 

"Your Excellency, after specifying all the subjects 
which have been thus replied to, goes on to say, that the 
Mexican armed vessels have fired upon and insulted the 
flag of the United States, that her consuls have been mal- 
treated and insulted by the authorities, private citizens 
assassinated, arrested, and scourged, like malefactot-s, their 
property condemned and confiscated, &c,, &c. But as 
these charges are made in terms so general, the Supreme 
Government of the Republic desires that they m.ay be 
specified, before taking them into consideration." 

Let us now see the character of the eighteen specified 
grievances, as explained by the Mexican Government, 
The cases of the Topaz (No. 2), Brazoria (Wo. 3), Captain 
Kiege (No. b), the Paragon (No. 6), the Ophir (No. Y), 
the affair at Metamoras (No. 10), the case of the Com- 
peer (No. 12), the Peter D. Vroom (No. 15), the Au-^ 
rora (No. 16), and the Fourth of July (No. 18), are ut- 
terly divested of all wrong and injustice on the part of 
the Mexican Government. 

There remain only eight of the whole budget Avhicli 
aftbrd the least room for complaint ; and of these the 
Government professed entire ignorance in the case of the 
Martha (No. 8), the Hannah Elizabeth (No. 9), the 
Eclipse (No. 11), the Northampton (No. 13), the treat- 
ment of the Consul at Tampico (No. 14), and the Beth- 
lehem (No. 17). It was not pretended that the injuries 
complained of in these six cases had been inflicted by 
orders from the Government ; and it might readily be 
believed that the Government was not acquainted with 
every abuse of power by its officials. But in each of these 



48 REVIEW OF THE MEXICAN WAR. 

cases, an inquiry was promised ; and it is difficult to con- 
ceive what more could have been reasonably demanded. 
We have now left only two cases within the knowledge of 
the Government, at all open to the suspicion of injustice 
and oppression — the case of Baldwin (No. 1), and of the 
detained steamboats (No. 4). Apparently neither was a 
fit subject of negotiation ; for the complaints in the first 
case were made against judicial decisions, w^hich can never 
be properly brought into question by a foreign govern- 
ment, except when founded on some great -principle con- 
tradicted by treaty or national law, and not on mere 
issues of fact. The complaint in the second instance ap- 
pears to have grown out of a contract over whicli our own 
Government had no legitimate cognizance. 

The Cabinet had reUeved themselves from breaking off 
the negotiations by throwing the responsibility of it upon 
Mr. Ellis. Their confidence in this gentleman was not 
misplaced. After receiving from the Mexican Secretary 
of State the explanations and assurances already men- 
tioned, he demanded (7th December) his passports ! 
The Mexican Government begged to know /or what cause 
he took a step so calculated to affect the relations of the 
two countries. It Avould not do to give the true reason : 
it was difficult to frame a plausible one ; and Mr. Ellis 
remained silent. 

The Mexican Minister had left Washington on account 
of the march of American troops into Texas, and the 
claim advanced by the Government of the right to send 
an American army into the heart of Mexico, if necessary, 
to guard against Indian hostilities. Mr. Ellis had termin- 
ated his mission in Mexico in the exercise of the discretion 
allowed him, adjudging the answers made to the eighteen 
complaints unsatisf actor i/. Negotiations being at an end, 
satisfaction for the eighteen grievances, and as many more 



REVIEW OF THE MEXICAN WAR. 49 

as we could find, could of course be obtained only by 
force, which would necessarily lead to war, and that as 
necessarily to the immediate annexation of Texas. Ac- 
cordingly, on the 6th February, 1837, the President hav- 
ing received Mr. Ellis's report, sent a Message to Con- 
gress on the subject of our claims upon Mexico. In this 
document, complaining of the conduct of the sister Re- 
pubHc, he observed : " The length of time since some of 
the injuries have been committed, the repeated and un- 
availing applications for redress, the wanton character of 
some of the outrages upon the property and persons of 
our citizens, upon the officers and flag of the United 
States, independent of recent insults to this Government 
and people by the late extraordinary Mexican Minister, 
would justify in the eyes of all nations immediate War, 
That remedy, however, should not be used by just and 
generous nations, confiding in their strength, for injuries 
committed, if it can be honorably avoided ; and it has 
occurred to me that, considering the present embarrassed 
condition of that country, we sliould act both with wisdom 
and moderation, by giving to Mexico one more oppor- 
tunity to atone for the past, before we take redress into 
our hands." 

*' To avoid all misconception on the part of Mexico, as 
well as to protect our national character from reproach, 
this opportunity should be given witli the avowed design 
and full preparation to take immediate satisfaction, if it 
should not be obtained on a repetition of the demand for 
it. To this end, I recommend that an act be passed, 
authorizing reprisals and the use of the naval force of the 
United States, by the Executive, against Mexico, to en- 
force them, in the event of a refusal by the Mexican 
government, to come to an amicable adjustment of the 
matters in controversy between us, upon another demand 
5 



60 REVIEW OF THE MEXICAN WAR. 

thereof, made on hoai-d one of our vessels of loar, on the 
coast of Mexico.'" 

The cruelty of this attempt to involve the two countries 
in v/ar, was aggravated by the very character of the re- 
commendation. jSTo specification is made of the injuries 
we have received, no notice is taken of the answers re- 
turned to the eighteen complaints, no mention made of 
the amount of money claimed. The President is to be 
armed with power to take immediate satisfaction, and for 
this purpose the navy is to be placed at his disposal. But 
to what amount the navy is to plunder the commerce and 
sea-ports of Mexico, is not stated. However, before a 
system of robbery is commenced, a demand for satis- 
faction (but how much no one knows,) is to be sent to 
the Government of Mexico, from a ship of war oflf Vera 
Cruz, and " a satisfactory answer " to be returned, of 
course, in a certain number of days. No one can fail to 
see that the President intended war, and that a compli- 
ance Avith his recommendation by Congress would have 
been equivalent to its declaration. The country was not 
yet prepared to commence a system of human butchery, 
for the purpose of facilitating the acquisition of Texas ; and 
General Jackson's belligerent proposition found but little 
favor with either house of Congress. 

But the reader is as yet only partially acquainted with 
the extreme wickedness of this proposal. He is "ret to 
learn that only six months before the date of this message, 
the President had himself acknowledged that Mexico was 
guiltless of the conduct he now imputed to her. We must 
again advert to the letter of the otli August, 1836, 
already quoted in the preceding chapter. This was a sort 
of semi-official, semi- confidential epistle, written, not at 
Washington, but at the President's residence in Tennessee, 
and addressed to the Governor of that State. Governor 



REVIEW OF THE MEXICAN WAR. 51 

Cannon was, doubtless, no less anxious than liis friend, for 
the annexation of Texas, even at the cost, if necessary, of 
a war with Mexico. General Jackson seems to have 
written the letter, to excuse himself for countermanding 
Gaines's order for troops, and for not faciHtating annex- 
ation, by making war on Mexico. On the first point he 
tells the Governor " there is no information to justify the 
apprehension of hostilities to any serious extent, from the 
western Indians." But was not the frontier endangered by 
the Mexicans ? Was not Mexico virtually waging war 
upon us ? Listen to the solemn assertions made by the 
President's ambassador Ellis, in his letter to the Mexican 
Secretary of State, on the 26th September, only a few 
weeks after the communication made to Governor Can- 
non : — " The flag of the United States has been repeatedly 
insulted, and fired upon by the public armed vessels of this 
Government ; her consuls, in almost every port of the Re- 
pubhc, have been maltreated and insulted by the public au- 
thorities ; her citizens, while in the pursuit of a lawful trade, 
have been murdered on the high seas, by a licentious and 
unrestrained soldiery. Others have been arrested and 
scourged in the streets by the military, like malefactors — 
they have been seized and imprisoned under the most 
frivolous pretexts — their property has been condemned 
and confiscated in violation of existing treaties, and the 
acknowledged laws of nations, and large sums of money 
have been exacted of them, contrary to all law." Now, in 
such a state of things, how did General Jackson excuse 
himself to his friend, for not vindicating the rights of his 
country ? Very easily. All the grievances we could 
muster were but eighteen, and Ellis's vituperation was in- 
tended for the purpose of insult and exasperation. The 
President well knew, as the result proved, that Congress 
could not be prevailed on to declare war against Mexico 



52 REVIEW OF THE MEXICAN WAR. 

at present, and hence he tells Governor Cannon : " Should 
Mexico insult our national flag, invade our territory, or 
interrupt our citizens in the lawful pursuits which are 
guaranteed to them by treaty, then the Government will 
promptly repel the insult, and take speedy reparation for 
the injury. But it does not seem that offences of 

THIS CHARACTER HAVE BEEIT COMMITTED BY MeXICO."* Let 

it not be forgotten, that this confession was made about 
two weeks after the date of the instructions to Ellis 
already mentioned, and which were obviously intended to 
produce a ruptui^e of the diplomatic intercourse between 
the two countries, as preparatory to war. 

* See this remarkable letter in Ex. Doc. 2 Sess. 24 CoJig. Vol. 
1, No. 2. It was probably intended as a private letter, but 
almost immediately found its way into the newspapers, most 
likely through the indiscretion of Governor Cannon. Being 
thus made public, Mr. Forsyth made use of it, tkedUt of the same 
month, in his correspondence with the Mexican Minister, send- 
ing him a 'newspaper copy of the letter, as evidence of the Presi- 
dent's friendly disposition towards Mexico ! 



1 



REVIEW OF THE MEXICAN WAR. 53 



CHAPTER VI. 

ACKNOWLEDGMENT OF THE INDEPENDENCE OF TEXAS. 

The colonists of Texas being American citizens, at no 
time wished to remain a separate and independant nation. 
Their highest aspiration was to see their lone star admitted 
into the American constellation. The slave-holders also 
were adverse to the rise of a small independent State on 
their southern borders — a State that in time might form 
a barrier to the progress of slavery. It was the policy of 
the Texans to stimulate the desire of the slave-holders for 
annexation, and hence within fifteen days after the decla- 
ration of independence, they adopted a constitution 
giving the rights of citizenship to all white emigrants, after 
a residence of six months, authorizing emigrants to bring 
their slaves with them, and rendering human bondage 
perpetual, by depriving the legislature of the power to 
abohsh it. A boon was held out to the breeding States, 
by granting them the monopoly of the Texan market, the 
importation of slaves being prohibited, except from the 
United States, Free negroes and mulattoes, it is well 
known, are regarded by the slave-holders as a dangerous 
population. In Texas, no colonization society was needed 
to remove such nuisances from the country. By the Con- 
stitution, every negro and every mulatto, now or in future, 
remaining on the soil of Texas, was doomed to bondage. 
There was still one more lure held out to the South. IVIr. 
Benton had calculated that nine slave States might be 
carved out of Texas ; but his vision of the future was con- 
fined to the Mexican province of that name. The Ameri- 
5* 



54 REVIEW or THE MEXICAN WAR. 

can insurgents, however, jesolved to offer to the slave- 
holdmg interest, not a single province only, but parts of 
Coahuila, Tamaulipas, and New Mexico ; and accordingly- 
voted themselves, on the 19th December, 1836, the vast 
territory included between the United States and the Rio 
Grande, from its source to its mouth. To proclaim, more- 
over, their eagerness to transfer themselves and their im- 
mense domain, now consecrated to slavery, to the Federal 
Union, a poll was held in 1836, at which the electors 
were required to express their wish for annexation, or for 
a separate government. The result Avas, 3279 votes for 
annexation, and 91 against it. This vote is also im- 
portant, as showing the diminutive population of the 
insurgent State. These various manifestations were not 
made to unwilHng or unobservant spectators. 

The President, while full of complaints against the ag- 
gressions of Mexico, sent an official agent (Henry M. 
Morfit,) into Texas, whose report of the good land, it was 
hoped, would excite the American people to go up and 
take possession. On the 2 •2d December, 1836, the Pre- 
sident laid before Congress a communication from his 
agent, on the " Political, mihtary, and civil condition of 
Texas." This document reveals the following important 
facts : — " The boundaries claimed by Texas will extend 
from the mouth of the Rio Grande, on the east side* up 
to its head waters, thence on a line due north, until it in- 
tersects that of the United States, and with that line to the 
Red River, on the northern boundary of the United States, 
then to the Sabine, and along that river to its mouth, and 
from that point westwardly with the Gulf of Mexico to 
the Rio Grande. It vms the intention of the Government, 
immediately after the battle of San Jacinto, to have claim- 
ed from the Rio Grande along the river to 30 degrees of 
latitude, and then west to the Pacific. It was, however. 



REVIEW OF THE MEXICAN WAR. 55 

found that this would not strike a convenient point on the 
California, that it would be difficult to control a wander- 
ing population so distant, and that the territory now de- 
termined upon would be suficient for a young Republic. 
The political limits of Texas i^roper, previous to the last 
revolution, were the Nueces river on the west, along the Red 
River on the north, the Sahine on the east, and the Gulf 
of Mexico on the south.''* 

The report of his agent in Texas was accompanied by 
the President with certain remarks highl}^ characteristic 
of the policy pursued from the first by the Federal Go- 
vernment towards that province. " It is known," said 
the President, " that the people of Texas have instituted 
the same form of government with our own ; and have, 
since the close of your last session, openly resolved, on 
the acknowledgment by you of their independence, to seek 
admission into the Union as one of the Federal States. 
The title of Texas to the territory she claims is identified 
ivith her independence. She asks us to acknowledge that 
title to the territory with an avowed design immediately to 
transfer it to the United States." Thus we have a direct 
appeal to the avaiice of the American people in behalf of 
annexation. The extravagant claims of Texas to Mexican 
territory are spread before Congress, and that body is 
reminded that the title to these vast domains is identified 
with the independence of Texas. Let us acknowledge 
that independence, and we thereby acknowledge the good- 
ness of her claims ; and, as soon as the acknowledgment 
is made, all Texas, and part of Coahuila, Taraaulipas, and 
most of New Mexico, will be ours. The influence of the 
tempter was in no degree lessened by a little common- 
place cant about the duty of a>'oiding all suspicion of act- 
ing from interested motives. It was now obvious that, as 

* Ex. Documents, Vol. 2. 24 Coa^. 2 Sess. 



56 REVIEW OF THE MEXICAN WAR. 

Texas could not be purchased, and as Mexico would pro- 
bably not be provoked into war, the acknowledgment of 
Texan independence was a necessaiy preliminary to an- 
nexation. But there was a powerful and vigilant hostihty 
at the North against every measure leading to the acqui- 
sition of more slave territory. Pains were, therefore, 
taken first to weaken this opposition by considerations of 
personal and party interest, and, secondly, to lull its ap- 
prehensions by false and deceptive suggestions and assur- 
rances. Thus President Jackson, in the Message already 
quoted, after showing how exceedingly profitable to the 
United States the acknowledgment of Texan independ- 
ence would certainly prove, proceeded to allay the alarm 
of the North which his o-wn representation awakened, by 
pretending that such acknowledgment must be indefinitely 
postponed. " Pnidence," said he, " seems to dictate 
that we should still stand aloof, and maintain our present 
attitude, if not till Mexico or one of the great foreign 
powei*s shall recognize the independence of the new Go- 
vernment, at least until the Icqyse of time, or the course of 
events, shall have proved, beyond all cavil or dispute, the 
ability of that country to maintain their separate sove- 
reignty, and to uphold the Government constituted by' 
them." 

This declaration, so frank and explicit, and made St th6 
beginning of the Session of Congress, tended to pre^ 
vent all demonstration of popular opinion against the ac- 
knowledgment, and all pledges on the subject from the 
Representatives to their constituents. 

On the 1st of March, two days before the close of the 
Session, and in the absence of six members, a resolution 
passed the Senate acknowledging the Independence op . 
Texas. Allusion was made in debate to the objections 



REVIEW OF THE MEXICAN WAR. 57 

made by the President on the 2 2d of the preceding De- 
cember to such a measure. To the astonishment of the 
pubhc, the mover of the resolution, Mr. Walker, from 
Mississippi, declared in his place that he " had it from the 
President's own lips that, if he were a Senator, he would 
vote for this resolution." Thus the lapse of time and 
course of events, contemplated by the President in his 
Message, were ascertained to be eight weeks, and a ma- 
jority in Congress. The resolution was adopted by the 
lower House, and the American Colonists in Texas were 
thus received into the family of nations as forming an Inde- 
pendent Republic. 



58 REVIEW OF THE MEXICAN WAR. 



CHAPTER VII. 

NEW CLAIMS ADVANCED AGAINST MEXICO. 

It will be recollected that President Jackson, in his Mes- 
sage of the 6th February, 1837, proposed that he should 
be authorized to make reprisals against Mexico, and for 
that purpose to employ the naval force of the nation, pro- 
vided Mexico did not come "to an amicable adjustment 
of the matters in controversy between us, upon another 
demand thereof made on board one of our vessels of 
War." 

Now, " the matters in controversy between us" were, 
in fact, no other than the eighteen grievances already spe- 
cified. It was stipulated by the existing treaty with 
IVIexico, that neither party shall " order or authorize any 
act of reprisal, nor declare war against the other on com- 
plaints of grievances or damages, until the said party 
considering itself offended shall first have presented to the 
other a statement of such injuries or damages, verified by 
competent 2^oof, and demand justice and satisfaction), and 
the same shall have been either refused or unreasonably 
delayed." Whatever claims and grievances we might 
have against Mexico, they were not " matters in contro- 
versy'' until after they had been presented, and by the 
express terms of the treaty could not warrant either re- 
prisals or war, until they had been verified, and the Mexi- 
can Government had either refused or unreasonably de- 
layed justice. 

Notwithstanding this treaty stipulation, the President 



REVIEW OF THE MEXICAN WAR. 59 

laid before Congress a schedule of grievances amountino- 
in number to forty-six.* Of the original eighteen claims, 
only one dated as far back as 1831, in the new schedule 
thirty-two are founded on acts alleged to have been q,o\\\- 
miitedi prior to 1832, Having given the reader a specifi- 
fication of each of the original claims, we will not now 
trespass on his patience by noticing in detail the addi- 
tional ones which the administration now found it con- 
venient to disinter from the oblivion of past years, and 
which had been in fact buried by the treaty ratified 5th 
April, 1832, which proclaimed the friendship existing 
between the two RepubHcs. It may be well, however, to 
give a few samples of these claims to show the deter- 
mined efforts of the American Government to quarrel 
with Mexico. 

"Mexican Company, Baltimore, 1816; amount of 
claim not stated. This was an association of individuals 
that furnished General Mina with the means of undertak- 
ing his invasion of Mexico, which amount they aver has 
never been repaid to them." 

" Mrs. Young, 1817 ; amount of claim not stated. The 
claimant is the widow of Col. Guilford Young, who was 
a partner of Mina, and was killed while fighting in 1817. 
The claim is understood to be for arrears of pay.'' 

These claims it will be observed, are for insuiTectionary 
services against the Sj^anish Government, seven or eight 
years before that Government was succeeded by the 
Mexican Republic. 

"John B. Marie, 1824; amount of claim not stated. 
Goods seized upon pretext of having been introduced con- 
trary to a Mexican law. The claimant says he was igno- 
rant of the law." 

"T. E. Dudley, and J. C. Wilson, 1824; amount 

* Ex. Doc, 24th Cong., 2d Sess., vol. 3. 



60 REVIEW OF THE MEXICAN WAR. 

claimed not stated. The claimants robbed of a part of 
their property by the Camanche Indians, on theu' return 
from a trading expedition to Mexico." 

The proposition to employ the naval force of the Union 
in making reprisals to enforce such claims was deemed too 
hazardous to be wise. It would necessarily bring on a 
war ; and a war waged on pretexts so scandalous, might 
destroy the popularity of the party, and augment the 
anti-slavery feehng of the North. It was evident the 
nation was not yet prepared to incur the calamities of war 
for the sole purpose of hastening the annexation of Texas ; 
and moreover, such a war, to receive the concurrence of 
the North, must at least be commenced hy Mexico. A 
course was therefore adopted, more sagacious than that 
urged by the fiery impatience of the President. Com- 
mittees of the two Houses of Congress, made reports well 
calculated, by exaggerating the misconduct of Mexico, to 
exasperate the ill-feehng already existing, but recom- 
mending that one more demand shoidd be made for re- 
paration. 

On the last day of the Session, an appropriation was 
made for the salary of a Minister to Mexico, '* whenever 
in the opinion of the President circumstances will permit 
a renewal of diplomatic intercourse honorably with that 
Power," It was only in the preceding December that^the 
Diplomatic intercourse had been broken off by instmctions 
from the Presieent, on the ground that it could not honor- 
ably be continued ; and yet, on the 30th of March, with- 
out any circumstance having occurred in the interval to 
invite a renewal of that intercourse, except the refusal of 
Congress to go to war, the President nominated a Minister 
to Mexico ! " And who,'' to use the language of J. Q. 
. Adams, " was this Minister of peace, to be sent with the 
last drooping twig of olive to be replanted and revivified 



REVIEW OF THE MEXICAN WAR. 61 

in the genial soil of Mexico ? It was no other than Pow- 
hattan Ellis, of Mississippi, famishing for Texas, and just 
returned in anger and resentment from an abortive and 
abruptly terminated mission to the same Government. 
His very name must have tasted hke wormwood to the 
Mexican palate ; and his name seems alone to have been 
used for the purpose of giving a reUsh to these last re- 
sources of pacific and conciliatoiy councils. But though 
appointed, he was not permitted to proceed upon his em- 
bassy. He was kept at home, and in his stead was des- 
patched a courier of the Department of State, with a 
budget of grievances good and bad, new and old, stuffed 
with wrongs as full as Falstaff's buck basket with foul 
linen, to be turned over under the nose of the Mexican 
Secretary of State, with an allowance of one week* to 
examine, search out, and answer concerning them all.'* 

In pohtics as in commerce, the supply is regulated by 
the demand. The Cabinet were in urgent want of claims 
upon Mexico, and, as it was, possible money might be 
extorted on these claims, there was, of course, no lack of 
claimants. 

On the 20th July, 1886, the "accumulated wrongs" 
for which Mr. Forsyth instructed Ellis to demand satisfac- 
tion, and, if not received in a hmited time, to ask for his 
passports, amounted, as we have seen, to fifteen in number, 
but as two had been already settled, in fact only to thir- 
teen. These, by the zeal and industry of Ellis, were 
increased to eighteen. On the 6th February, 183 7, the 
accumulation was swelled to forty-six, and on the 20th 
July, 1837, the anniversary of Mr. Forsyth's celebrated 
despatch to Ellis, the " courier of the department of 

* " The messenger bearing the budget was instructed to remain 
in the city of Mexico one week.'' Rep. of Cong., 1st Sess., 29th 
Cong., Vol. 4. 

6* 



62 REVIEW OF THE MEXICAN WAR. 

State," appeared in the city of Mexico, bending beneath 
a load of fifty-seven wrongs, for which, in the name of 
the American Government, he demanded "justice and 
satisfaction." 

Of these complaints, it may readily be imagined, many 
were in the highest degree most insolent and ridiculous. 
Let one suffice: — In 1829, Mexico was invaded by a 
Spanish force, and a printing press in Tampico, said to 
have been Americun property, was destroyed by the 
invaders. Eight years nher the occurrence, Mexico is 
for the first time informed that she is held responsible by 
the Federal Government, for an act committed by her 
enemies in time of war. We can judge of the effect of 
such a claim upon the Mexicans, by supposing a demand 
of the French king upon the American Government, for 
payment of injuries received by one of his subjects, from 
the British ;troops while in possession of the city of 
Washington. 

The temporary detention of two citizens at Metamoras, 
and the pretended abduction of two mules and a mare, 
although so abundantly and satisfactorily explained, again 
figure among the national grievances for which the " cou- 
rier" demanded satisfaction. 

That our Government had no desire whatever, to brincr 
their dispute v,dth Mexico to an amicable terminati&n, is 
perfectly obvious from the extraordinary course it pursued 
on this occasion. Congress decided not to go to war, but 
to renew negotiations, and furnished money for the salary 
of a minister. A minister is appointed personally odious 
to the Mexicans, but detained at home, while a messenger is 
sent with a list of fifty-seven grievances, of which not 
more than eighteen at most had ever before been brought 
to the notice of the Mexican Government. This messenger 
was forbidden to remain for more than one iveek. No 



REVIEW OF THE MEXICAN WAR. 63 

opportunity was afforded to Mexico to make explanations, 
or even to ascertain what reparation would be satisfactory. 
She had no minister in the United States. The American 
Minister, appointed in obedience to the wishes of Congress, 
was not dispatched ; and hence, admitting our claims to 
have been just, and admitting Mexico to be wilhng to 
allow them, the very measures adopted by the Cabinet 
precluded all adjustment of the points in controversy. 
Our demands were in truth intended only to irritate, and 
to furnish stronger pretexts than had yet been found for 
reprisals and loar. 

Before this " buck basket," with its fifty-seven griev- 
ances reached Mexico, that Government — which knew of 
no other than the eighteen causes of complaint against it 
specified by Mr. Elhs, and on account of which he had 
terminated his mission — had passed an Act offering to 
submit to the award of a friendly power, the claims of 
the United States.* 

* Ex. Doc, 25th Cong., 2 Sess. Vol. 8. 



64 REVIEW OF THE MEXICAN WAR. 



CHAPTER VIII. 

TREATY OP ANNEXATION PROPOSED AND REJECTED. 

Just twelve months after the declaration of Texan inde- 
pendence, that independence was acknowledged by the 
United States. A minister representing the Federal 
Government, was immediately despatched to the insurg- 
ents, and one in retmni was received from them. Mr. 
Hunt, recently an American citizen, and now *' Envoy 
Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary of the Re- 
public of Texas," appeared among his old friends at 
Washington, and in August, 183*7, proposed, in behalf of 
the yearling Republic, a treaty of annexation. Mr. Van 
Buren had, the preceding 4th of March, assumed the 
reins of Government. This gentleman had, on various 
occasions, shown so much anxiety to conciliate the South, 
as to be stigmatized by his opponents as " the Northern 
man with Southern principles." Mr. Hunt was therefore 
warranted in believing, that he would have no personal 
objection to extending the slave region by the addition of 
Texas. But very sufficient obstacles existed to the pro- 
posed treaty. Such a treaty would necessarily involve a 
war with Mexico, and in such a war the country was not 
yet prepared to engage. The treaty moreover, could not 
be ratified, because it was well ascertained, that more than 
one-third of the Senators would withhold their assent. A 
fruitless attempt to negotiate such a treaty would be a 
political blunder which Mr. Van Buren was too sagacious to 
commit — a blunder which would inevitably destroy the 



REVIEW OF THE MEXICAN WAR. 65 

popularity of the administration, and have a most disastrous 
influence on the ensuing election. The Texan proposition 
was therefore politely declined on the ground that annex- 
ation at the present time must result in a war with Mexico. 
This was a reason which could give no offence to the 
South, especially as there were good grounds for hoping 
that the dextrous management of our claims would ere 
long remove the only alleged obstacle to annexation. The 
pear was not yet quite ripe, and Mr. Van Buren was at 
the time ignorant of the Mexican offer, which was des- 
tined to postpone its maturity. 



QQ REVIEW OF THE MEXICAN WAR. 



CHAPTER IX. 

TREATY OF ARBITRATION ACTIOX OF THE SLAVEHOLDERS. 

Mexico, anxious to preserve peace with the United States, 
not only proposed to refer the claims of the latter to arbi- 
tration, but once more sent a Minister to Washington. 
This gentleman arrived in October, and, as is said, from a 
misapprehension that the Mexican proposition had already- 
been communicated to the American Government, did 
not officially announce it till the 22d December, 1837. 
The proposition itself was a sore disappointment to the 
partisans of annexation. It tended to avert, or at least to 
postpone war. It was a proposition so fair and honor- 
able, so pacific, and so directly appealing to the moral 
sense of the community, that it could not be rejected, 
without bringing great odium upon the administration ; 
and the party of which it was the representative, had but 
little popularity to spare. Still it was received in sullen 
silence, and no other notice taken of it at the time, than a 
formal acknowledgment of its receipt.* No less than 
three times after this acknowledgment, did Mr. Forsyth 
(Secretary of State), press upon the Mexican Minister 
new claims, and new demands without deiorningr even a 
passing allusion to the very important proposal he had 
received. Four moyiths elapsed, and this Government 
had yet given no intimation of its willingness to adopt an 
equitable and pacific mode of obtaining redress for " the 
accumulated wrongs " under which it professed to be suf- 



REVIEW OF THE MEXICAN WAR. 67 

fering. In the meantime, the Mexican offer had become 
pubhc, and petitions had been presented to Congress 
praying its acceptance ;* and at least forty thousand citi- 
zens had laid before that body their remonstrances against 
annexation. At length on the 21st April, 1838, Mr. For- 
syth informed the Mexican Minister, that the President 
" is too anxious to avoid proceeding to extremities," not 
to accept the offer ! Negotiations were now commenced 
at Washington, which resulted, on the 10th of September, 
1838, in a convention between the two Governments, by 
which it was agreed, that all the claims against Mexico 
should be referred to a board of four Commissioners, two 
to be appointed by each party. The board to meet in 
Washington three months after the exchange of ratifica- 
tions, and to sit not more than eighteen months. The 
award of the Commissioners to be final, but the cases on 
which they could not agree were to be decided by an 
umpire to be named by the King of Prussia. Should the 
Mexican Government not find it convenient to pay the 
amount awarded in cash, the payment was to be made in 
so much government stock as would, at the market price 
in London, be equal to the award. ■ The Mexican ratifica- 
tion of this Convention not having been exchanged within 
the time hmited, it Avas renewed with slight modifications 
in 1840 ; the most important of which was, that the sum 
awarded was to be paid, one half in cash, and the other 
in Treasury notes bearing eight per c^nt. interest, and re- 
ceiveable for Mexican duties. 

The determination of the Executive to refer the Mexi- 
can claims to arbitration, and the delay necessarily caused 
by such a reference, seemed to excite the slaveholders to 
increased energy in forwarding their favorite object. Mis- 
sissippi had already, by its Legislature, demanded the an- 

* See Ex. Doc. 26th Cong., 2 Sess., Vol. 12, 



68 ^^ REVIEW OF THE MEXICAN WAR. 

nexation of Texas, avowedly for the benefit of the slave- 
holding interest. The State of Alabama now did the 
same. The Legislature of Tennessee joined in the de- 
mand, but refrained from the indecency of resting it on 
the extension of human bondage. Three days after the 
acceptance of the Mexican offer, Mr. Preston, a senator 
from South Carolina, introduced a resolution, declaring* 
the expediency of annexing Texas to the Union. On the 
14th June, 1838, Mr. Thompson of the same State pro- 
posed a joint resolution in the Lower House, directing the 
President to take proper steps for the annexation of Texas, 
*' as soon as it can be done consistently with the treaty 
stipulations of this Government." 

At the South there was little or no diflference between 
the two political parties on the question of annexation. 
As a specimen of the recklessness and profligacy with 
which the measure was then urged, we may quote the 
following language held by a prominent whig journal, 
** We have heretofore asserted, and we repeat it again, 
that Texas should be made a component part of our 
country at all hazards, peaceably if she was wilhng, and 
forcibly, if she was reluctant."* 

The North, however, was not silent. The whig party 
were nearly united in their opposition to Texas, and they 
were in many instances joined by portions of their political 
opponents. The States of Vermont, Maine, Massachu- 
setts, Connecticut. Rhode Island, New York, and Penn- 
sylvania, all protested, through their Legislatures, against 
annexation. It is not, therefore, surprising that Mr. Van 
Buren departed from the policy of General Jackson in re- 
ferring the claims of Mexico to arbitration instead of the 
sword. 

* Frankfort (Ky.) Commonwealth, May 2d, 1888. 



REVIEW OP THE MEXICAN WAR. 69 



CHAPTER X. 

RESULTS OF THE TREATY OF ARBITRATION. 

It is not to be inferred, from what lias been heretofore 
said of the claims upon Mexico, that none of them were 
founded in justice. Unquestionably some of the most le- 
gitimate were nevertheless of a character which, according 
to the laws and usages of nations, were not fit subjects of 
national controversy, such for instance as were founded 
on contracts or on torts within the cognizance of the ordi- 
nary tribunals of the country. Nor is it surprising that, 
during the many military revolutions by which Mexico 
had for years been convulsed, subordinate officers should 
occasionally have exceeded their powers, and for military 
purposes have trespassed on the neutral rights of Ameri- 
can residents. The admiralty courts of Mexico, had con- 
demned American vessels, taken with arms and munitions 
of war intended for Texas. These articles of contraband 
were by treaty liable to forfeiture ; but the vessels them- 
selves, together with such parts of the cargo as were not 
contraband, were by treaty exempted from condemnation. 
Had the intentions of the American Government been 
equitable, and their measures temperate, there is no rea- 
son to beheve that any serious difficulty would have been 
experienced in recovering compensation where it was 
justly due. 

The Board of Commissioners "appointed under the 
Treaty commenced their session in Washington, l7th 
August, 1840 ; and by 26th May, the next year, a period 



70 ^^REVIEW OF THE MEXICAN WAR. 

of about nine months, they had passed upon e\:ery claim 
that had been presented to them, accompanied with the 
necessary vouchers, a fctct deriving great importance from 
subsequent events. In February, 1842, the Commission 
was dissolved by the hmitation prescribed in the Treaty, 
having sat eighteen months. The King of Prussia had 
named his Minister at Washington, Baron Roenne, as 
umpire. 

Total amount of Claims presented, - - - $11,850,578 
Of these submitted too late to be examined, 3,336,837 



8,513,741 



Referred to Umpire, and undecided by him 

for want of time, 928,627 



Amount of Claims adjudicated, - - - - 7,595,114 
Rejected by Commissioners and Umpire, - 5,568,975 

Allowed do. do. - - $2,026,236 

This statement invites various remarks. The Federal 
Government had been for years espousing the cause of 
the Mexican claimants. Session after session had the 
Executive Messages brought before Congress, not the 
particulars but the subject of Mexican outrages. Com- 
mittees had reiterated the lamentations of the President 
over our accumulated wrongs. A minister had been with- 
drawn from Mexico, because redress had been withheld ; 
and war had virtually been recommended by General 
Jackson to obtain, by force of arms, that justice ^for our 
citizens which Mexico denied them. Finally, a solemn 
Treaty proposed to afford the long-desired but denied re- 
paration. A Court, composed of two American and two 
Mexican citizens, were to sit in judgment on these claims ; 
and, where the Court j^ould not agree, an impartial um- 
pire was to award the amount justly due. The Court 
commenced its session about two years after its first ap- 
pointment. Surely the claimants had abundant notice to 



REVIEW OF THE MEXICAN WAR. 71 

prepare and present their claims ; and they had also 
timely notice that the term of the Court was hmited to 
eighteen months. For the convenience of the claimants, 
the Court assembled in "Washington, contrary to the 
wishes and remonstrances of the Mexican Government. 
Under such circumstances, it is not surprising that, after 
the Court had been in session nine months, only one-half 
of the time to which it was limited, it had disposed of 
every case that had been presented with proper vouchers. 
But at the termination of the next nine months, we find 
claims to the amount of $3,336,837, that were presented 
too late to be even examined ! The magnitude of these 
claims, and the astonishing delay in presenting them, after 
the unwearied solicitude of the Government to swell the 
demand against Mexico, clearly indicate their fraudulent 
and speculative character. We find, moreover, that of 
those claims which were passed upon, about three- 

rOURTHS OF THE AMOUNT CLAIMED WAS REJECTED aS not 

due. Unquestionably the strongest claims were first 
brought forward ; and if these were three-fourths spuri- 
ous, we may judge of the character of those introduced 
at the close of the session. We have seen the eagerness 
with which the Government welcomed and pressed every 
claim, however stale and absurd. It is obvious that the 
Court of Claims, if we may so name it, was a lottery in 
which magnificent prizes might be drawn, and in which 
the tickets cost nothing. Every man who had been in 
Mexico for the last twenty years, and could manufacture 
a wrong, was virtually invited to come forward and try 
his luck. There is also strong reason to beheve, that, 
when at the end of the first nine months, all the cases 
ready had been heard, it was found that the result would 
be so insignificant as to cast contempt and ridicule upon 
the Cabinet ; and that, therefore, great efforts were made 



72 ^^REVIEW OF THE MEXICAN WAR. 

to induce reckless speculators and adventurers to come 
forward with claims which would at least swell the un- 
liquidated demand, and furnish ground for continued and 
irritating complaint. But supposing the unsettled claims 
to have been not less worthless than those which were 
adjudicated, then one million more would have been add- 
ed to the award, making a debt due by Mexico of three 
instead of the eleven millions claimed. 

Congress lately passed a bill for paying to American 
claimants five millions, due from the French Government, 
but which ours did not choose to go to war to collect. It 
was only of feeble Mexico, Avith her unprotected territory, 
that the Federal Cabinet was ready to collect debts at the 
mouth of the cannon. 

It may not be amiss to give some specimens of the 
shameless profligacy of many of these claims, which poli- 
ticians, for selfish purposes, have found it convenient to 
magnify into grievous wrongs. 

A. 0. de Santangelo was a schoolmaster and printer in 
Mexico. In one of the revolutionary stmggles, he was 
obhged to flee, abandoning his school and press. He 
came to New Orleans, and thence to New York, where 
he became a naturalized citizen of the United States, 
and in that capacity brought in a bill of $398,690 against 
the Mexican Government for damages ! The Mexican 
Commissioners denied that anything was due ; the Ame- 
rican Commissioners allowed him $83,440 — whicii the 
Umpire cut down to $50,000, one-eighth of the demand. 
On what principle this eighth was allowed, it is difficult 
to imagine. 

Rhoda McCrae claimed $6,694.04 for a pension for 
her son killed in the Mexican service. The American 
Commissioners to their shame allowed the claim, and the 
Umpire to his credit rejected it. 



REVIEW OP THE MEXICAN WAR. 73 

Sophia M. Robinson claimed, for services rendered by 
ber husband in Mexico — then a province of Spain — in 
1817, (!) $16,000, and as much more for interest. The 
American Commissioners allowed her $32,000 ! The 
Umpire most righteously refused her a cent. 

John Baldwin claimed for a trunk of wearing cvp'parelj 
seized by a Mexican custom-house officer, IllYO. Inter- 
est $311.50 : $1481.50. All allowed by American Com- 
missioners. Undecided by Umpire.* 

Mr. Pendleton, of Virginia, in a very able speech in 
Congress, 22nd February, 1847, on these claims, thus 
comments on one of them : " There is one particular item 
— a beauty of its kind — which I will mention. The item 
is for fifty-six dozen bottles of porter. I beheve the best 
London porter can be purchased in any part of the world 
for something like three dollars a-dozen ; and I estimate 
this porter, therefore, very liberally, when I put it down at 
two hundred dollars. What do you suppose is charged 
for it in this account ? Why, sixteen hundred and ninety 
dollars ! But that is reasonable, compared with the in- 
terest charged upon the price. That is for less than six 
years set down at $6,570 ; making for fifty-six dozen 
bottles of porter the nice little sum of $8,260 ! I do not 
say that all these accounts are of that sort ; but this I 
will say, that many of them are more unreasonable."! 
One of the claims left undecided was preferred by a 
Texan land company for the comfortable sum of $2,154, 
604 ; and one individual claims $690,000 for erroneous 
decisions against him in Mexican courts ! It is creditable 
to the justice and moderation of Mexico, that, when such 
unscrupulous audacity was countenanced by our Govern- 
ment, the demands manufactured against her reached to 
no more than eleven millions of dollars, 

* Ex. Doc, 27 til Cong., 2nd Sess. No. 21. 
t App. Cong. Globe. 



iVIEW OF THE MEXICAN WAR. 



CHAPTER XL 

I NEW TREATIES WITH MEXICO ABOUT CLAIMS. 

*' The Treaty of Arbitration had deprived the Administra- 
tion for some time of all pretexts of complaint against 
Mexico, and probably postponed the annexation of Texas. 
Fortunately for the designs of the Cabinet, the accumula' 
tion of claims towards the close of the Commission had, 
as we have seen, left a large nominal amount undecided. 
Of this surplus, the Administration eagerly availed itself 
to renew a harassing negotiation. No Minister had been 
sent to Mexico since Mr. Ellis thought it expedient to de- 
mand his passports, and to decline specifying the reasons 
of so ungracious a measure. The Commission under the 
Treaty terminated, as we have seen, in February, 1842; 
and the next March, Mr. Tyler, who as Vice-President 
had succeeded to the Executive Chair on the death of 
President Harrison, appointed Mr. Waddy Thompson, of 
South Carolina, Minister to Mexico. In selecting this 
gentleman, he was no doubt influenced by the same mo- 
tives which had led to the appointment of Messrs. Poin- 
sett, Butler, and Elhs. He was a slaveholder, devoted to 
the cause of Texas. He had, moreover, on the floor of 
Congress, introduced a resolution directing the President 
to take measures for the annexation of Texas, as soon as 
it could be done, consistently with the Treaty stipulations 
of the Government — an act which necessarily rendered 
him personally offensive to the Mexican Government. 

It will be recollected that by the treaty of arbitration 
the award was to be paid half in cash, and half in treas- 



REVIEW OF THE MEXICAN WAR. 75 

ury notes at par, bearing eight per cent, interest, and 
receivable for duties. Mr. Thompson found the Mexican 
credit very low, and treasury notes at a discount of about 
seventy per cent. His diplomatic correspondence has 
been published only in part, and we are therefore ignorant 
by what means he succeeded in negotiating, 30 th January, 
1843, a new convention or treaty by which Mexico agreed 
to pay on the 30th April of the same year, all the interest 
then due, and the award itself in five years, in equal 
quarterly instalments. This arrangement has been repre- 
sented as a boon granted to Mexico,^' and therefore aggra- 
vating her ingratitude. The assertion, Hke most others 
made in vindication or apology of the Mexican war, is 
untrue. Says Mr. Calhoun, Secretary of State, writing 
to Mr. Shannon, minister in Mexico, June 20th, 1844 — 
"The convention (of 1839), provided that the claims 
which should be allowed, might be discharged by payment 
of Mexican treasury notes, but as these were much de- 
preciated in value, it became a matter of importance to effect 
some other arrangement by which specie should be substi- 
tuted in their stead. To this end your predecessor 
(Thompson), was empowered and instructed to enter into 
a negotiation with the Government of Mexico, and a 
convention was concluded, 30th January, 1843." INIr. 
Thompson, in his " Recollections of Mexico," speaking 
of this convention, says, p. 223, " the market value of the 
treasury notes was about thirty cents on a dollar, and, if 
this additional two millions had been thrown' upon the 
market, they would have been depreciated still more. 
The owners of these claims knew this, and were anxious 
to make some other arrangement." Hence the " boon" 

* Report of C J. Ingersol, Chairman of Com. of Foreign 
Affairs, June 24th, 1846. 



76 REVIEW OF THE MEXICAN WAR. 

was extorted from Mexico, and probably through the 
menaces of the negotiator. 

But the new convention did more than regulate the 
payment of the award. It stipulated for the negotiation 
of another arbitration treaty, and one more comprehensive 
than the last, for it was to provide for the settlement of 
all claims made by the Government of Mexico against the 
United States, as well as the claims of the Government 
and citizens of the United States against the Repubhc of 
Mexico. Here was at least the appearance of fairness. 
The United States consented by this treaty, which was 
duly ratified, that the wrongs the Government and it citi- 
zens had done to Mexico should be submitted to a court 
of referees. What claims the citizens of Mexico had 
against the United States do not appear ; but the claims 
of the Government were numerous and important. 

Vessels captured by Mexican ships of war for being en- 
gaged in contraband trade, had been forcibly seized and 
carried off by American armed vessels, and a Mexican na- 
tional vessel had been audaciously captured and brought 
to the United States by one of the vessels of om* navy ; and 
frequent had been the insults which American functionaries 
had offered to the Mexican authorities. It must, therefore, 
have been a grateful reflection to the Mexicans, that the 
wrongs they had themselves suffered, were to be examined 
and redressed by a tribunal more impartial than the Cabi- 
net at Washington. Whether it was through inadvertence, 
or with a view oi inducing Mexico to provide for the settle- 
ment of the vast amount of claims left undecided that the 
American Government accorded this unusual justice to the 
sister Republic, is uncertain. The treaty stipulated for by 
the convention of 30th January, 1843, was concluded in 
Mexico on the 20th November of the same year. The 
respective claims of the citizens and Governments of the 



REVIEW OF THE MEXICAN WAR. 77 

two countries were to be referred to a joint commission to 
sit in Mexico ; and where the commissioners should not 
agree, the award of an umpire, to be named by the king 
of Belgium, was to be final. This treaty was sent to 
Washington, accompanied by a letter from Thompson to 
the Secretary of State, in which he tells him " the place 
of meeting of the board, you will see, is in Mexico, and 
not in Washington. The Mexican plenipotentiaries said 
that the last commission met in Washington, and that it 
was their right to insist that this one should meet in 
Mexico. The only reply that I could make was, that the 
claims presented to that commission were all against 
Mexico, and that nearly all the claimants resided in the 
United States ; to which they replied that this commission 
will also be charged with the claims of the Government 
and citizens of Mexico against the United States, and that 
they could not concede this point. I thought there was 
much reason in their demand ; and, as it was matter 
of punctilio, and as with a Spaniard punctilio is everything, 
I was well satisfied it would be a sine qua non, and there- 
fore yielded it, in consideration of their allowing me to 
name the arbiter — a much more important consideration." 
The mere details of this treaty were of course matters 
of discretion to which the Government at Washington had 
the strict right of objecting. But the United States 
had, by a solemn convention duly ratified, agreed that 
the complaints of the Government and citizens of Mexico 
should be referred by treaty to a tribunal for settlement : 
to refuse therefore to consent to such a reference, was a 
breach of faith plighted by treaty. Yet of such a breach 
was the Senate of the United States guilty. The treaty 
was conditionally ratified by the Senate, first striking out 
of it the right of each Government to prefer before the 
commission claims against the other ; and secondly, alter- 



78 REVIEW OP THE MEXICAN WAR. 

mg the place of meeting to Washington.* There was no 
dispute about the treaty of 30th January, 1843. Mr. 
Upshur, Secretary of Stdte, in his correspondence with 
Thompson, acknowledged and regretted the obhgation it 
imposed, of referring to a tribunal wholly judicial in its 
character a subject " strictly diplomatic." Yet, in defi- 
ance of a plain treaty stipulation, the Senate refused to 
refer the claims of the Mexican Government to the 
decision of the commissioners and umpire. The place of 
meeting was changed by the Senate to Washington, 
although the Government had been warned by its own 
agent, that the sitting of the commission in Mexico was a 
sine qua non, and a point of national pride. The treaty 
thus mutilated, and conditionally ratified, was sent back to 
Mexico, where no farther notice of it was taken. Hence 
arose the cry from the partisans of Texas, that Mexico 
refused to settle the claims advanced by the citizens of the 
United States. President Polk in his labored vindication 
of the war ao;ainst Mexico, contained in his messao-e 
of December, 1846, had the temerity to charge Mexico 
with " violating the faith of treaties, by failing or refusing 
to carry into effect the sixth article of the convention of 
January, 1843" ! ! 

* Report of Com. on Foreign Affairs, June 24th, 1846. 



REVIEW OF THE MEXICAN WAR. 79 



CHAPTER XII. 

THE SEIZURE AND SURRENDER OF MONTEREY, IN CALIFOR- 
NIA, BY COMMODORE JONES. 

On Mr, Thompson's appointment, an attempt was made 
in the House of Representatives, to defeat his mission by a 
motion to strike out from the supply bill the appropriation 
for a salary to the Minister to Mexico. In opposing this 
motion, Mr. Wise, of Virginia, the administration leader 
in the House delivered, 14th April, 1842, a characteristie 
speech, of which the following is an extract : 

*' Texas had but a sparse population, and neither men 
nor money of her own to raise and equip an army for her 
own defence ; but let her once raise the flag of foreign 
conquest — let her once proclaim a crusade against the 
rich states to the South of her, and in a moment volun- 
teers would flock to her standard in crowds from all the 
States in the great vallej^ of the Mississippi — men of en- 
terprise and hardy valor before whom no Mexican troops 
could stand an hour. They would leave their own towns, 
arm themselves and travel at their own cost, and would 
come up in thousands to plant the lone star of the Texan 
banner on the Mexican capital. They would drive Santa 
Anna to the South, and the boundless wealth of cap- 
tured towns, and rifled churches, and a lazy, vicious, and 
luxurious p^esthood, would soon enable Texas to pay her 
soldiers, and redeem her State debt, and push her victo- 
rious arms to the very shores of the Pacific. 

*'And would not all this extend slavery? Yes, the 



80 ^^VIEW OF THE MEXICAN WAR. 

result would be, that, before another quarter of a century, 
the extension of slavery would not stop short of the 
Western Ocean. 

" To talk of restraining the people of the great valley 
from emigrating to join her armies, was all in vain. They 
had gone once already. It was they that conquered Santa 
Anna at San Jacinto ; and three-fourths of them after 
winning that glorious field, had peaceably returned to their 
homes. But once set before them the conquest of the 
rich Mexican provinces, and you might as well attempt to 
stop the wind. Let the work once begin, and he (Mr. 
Wise) did not know that this House would hold him very 
long. 

" Give me five millions of dollars, and I would under- 
take to do it myself. Although I don't know how to set a 
single squadron in the field, I could find men to do it ; and, 
with five millions of dollars to begin with, I would under- 
take to pay every American claimant the full amount of 
his demand with interest, yea, fourfold. / would place 
Ccdifornia where all the powers of Great Britain, would 
never be able to reach it. Slavery should pour itself 

ABROAD without RESTRAINT, AND FIND NO LIMIT BUT THE 

Southern Ocean. The Camanches should no longer hold 
the richest mines of Mexico ; but every golden image which 
had received the profanation of a false worship should soon 
be melted down, not into Spanish milled dollars indeed, but 
into good American eagles. Yes, there should more»hard 
money flow into the United States than any exchequer 
or sub-treasury could ever circulate. I would cause as 
much gold to cross the Rio del Norte as the mules of 
Mexico could carry ; aye, and make a better use of it 
than any lazy, bigoted priesthood under Heaven. I am 
not quarrelling with the particular religion of these priests ; 
but I say, that any priesthood that has accumulated and 



REVIEW OF THE MEXICAN WAR. 81 

sequestered such immense stores of wealth, ought to dis- 
gorge, and, it is a benefit to mankind, to scatter their 
vreaUh abroad where it can do good. Texas had pro- 
claimed a blockade against all the coast of Mexico ; and 
though she had no fleet to enforce it, she would be able 
to make it good by hewing her way to the Mexican 
capital. Nor could all the vaunted power of England 
stop the chivalry of the West, till they had planted the 
Texan star on the walls of the city of Mcintezuma. No- 
thing could keep these booted loafers from rushing on till 
they kicked the Spanish priests out of the temples they 
profaned. War was a curse ; but it had its blessings too. 
He would vote for this mission as the means of preserving 
peace ; but, if it must lead to war, he would vote it the 
more willingly." 

The author of such a speech was, of course, admirably 
fitted for the Mexican mission ; but, as that was already 
filled, the President (Tyler) expressed his obligation to 
the Orator, by appointing lura Minister to France, A 
Whig Senate recoiled at the idea of sending Mr. Wise to 
represent American morality and refinement in Europe, 
but consented that he should discharge that function in 
Brazil. Amid the vulgarity and profligacy of this speech, 
there is much that merits attention as indicative of the 
views and anticipations of the slaveholders. We sec 
what visions of plunder the idea of a Vv^ar with Mexico 
raised before their excited imaginations; we aee what 
boundless regions were in their hopes to be consecrated to 
human bondage,, and with how little cost and danger, the 
chivalry expected to gather a golden harvest from both 
mines and churches. Mr. Wise was chairman of the na- 
val committee, and high in the confidence of the adminis- 
tration ; and hence his reference to California was pecu- 
liarly significant, and shadowed forth coming events. The 



82 "^^kl VIEW OF THE MEXICAN WAR. 



annexation of Texas was the immediate object of tlie 
slaveholders ; but Califoraia was looming in the distance, 
and many wistful eyes wei^ gazing upon it, as the means 
of carrying slavery to the " Western Ocean." 

Mr. Upshur, the Virginian who in 1829 wanted Texas 
to raise the price of slaves, and now Secretary of the 
Navy, in his report of December 4th, 1841, announced to 
Congress, that " In Upper California there were already 
considerable settlements of Americans, and others are 
daily resorting to that fertile and delightful country. Such, 
however, is the unsettled condition of that whole country, 
that they cannot be safe either in their persons or property, 
except under the protection of our naval power ^ He also 
declared that, " It is highly desirable that the Gulf of 
Cahfornia should be fully explored, and that this duty 
alone will give employment a long time to one or two 
vessels of the smaller class." Here was a beautiful device 
for forcing Mexico into a war and wresting California 
from her. Our ships of war were to be continually hover- 
ing on the coast, and their officers surveying the harbors 
and interfering in every controversy between the Mexican 
authorities and American squatters and adventurers. 

A few days after this report. Commodore Jones, also a 
Virginian, was dispatched with a squadron to the Pacific. 
He was specially instructed to keep one or more vessels 
occasionally or constantly cruising upon the coast, and 
within the Gulf of California, and the officers wei^ *' to 
p3,y particular attention to the examination of the bays 
and barbers they may visit, and to lay down their positions 
correctly." The subsequent conquest of California bears 
testimony to the foresight of Messrs. Tyler and Upshur. 
It is not to be supposed that Commodore Jones was per- 
mitted to depart without being acquainted with the wishes 
and hopes of his employers. He undoubtedly well under- 



REVIEW OF THE MEXICAN WAR. 83 

stood, although not formally instructed, that he was to 
avail himself of any good opportunity of getting a foot- 
hold in California. 

In May, 1842, the Mexican Secretary of State sent a 
circular to the diplomatic corps, declaring that the Mexi- 
can Government protested against the aid afforded to the 
Texans by citizens of the United States with the toleration 
of their own Government. At the same time the Secre- 
tary addressed a letter to Mr. Webster, American Secre- 
tary of State, formally protesting against the allowance 
by the Federal Government of the violation, on the part 
of its citizens, of the obligations of neutrality in the open 
aid afforded to the insurgents of Texas. These two let- 
ters were published in a Mexican journal, and fell into the 
hands of Commodore Jones at Callao, together with a 
Boston newspaper, giving from a New Orleans paper one 
of those common lies about English interference, which 
had for years been plentifully manufactured by the parti- 
sans of annexation. 

The lie which now caught the eye of the Commodore 
was, that Mexico had ceded California to Great Britain for 
87,000,000 ! It so happened that three British armed 
vessels Avere at this time in the Pacific, and the watchful 
Commodore did not know their business, nor where they 
were going. The Mexican documents induced him to 
guess, that war had been declared between the United 
States and Mexico, and the rumor given from the New 
Orleans paper, led him to guess, that Great Britain had 
purchased California ; and as he had not been informed 
where the three British vessels were going, he guessed 
they had gone to take possession of the newly purchased 
territory. He accordingly left Callao on the Vth Sep- 
tember, 1842, "crowding all sail on the direct coast of 
Mexico" (California). The next day he summoned a 



84 '""•^^EVIEW OF THE MEXICAN WAR. 

council of his officers, submitted to tliem his documents, 
at the same time expressing his belief that the British 
squadron was there on its way to Panama, " where it will 
be reinforced by troops, ho,., from the West Indies (! !) 
destined for the occupation of Cahfornia." Under these 
circumstances, he asked for the advice of his three cap- 
tains, as to the "employment of the small naval force 
(three vessels), at my disposal so as to best promote the 
interests and honor of our country, thus suddenly jeo- 
parded /" The three marine statesmen assembled in the 
cabin of the United States frigate, thus intrusted by the 
Commodore with the weighty question of peace and war, 
advised that the squadron, already "crowding all sail" for 
California, should continue its course ; and moreover an- 
nounced, as the result of their deliberation, that, " in case 
of w ar between the United States and Mexico, it would 
be their (the officers) bounden duty to take possession 
of California," and that they " should consider the mili- 
tary occupation of the Californias by any European power, 
but more particularly by our great commei-cial rival Eng- 
land, and especially at this particular juncture, as a mea- 
sure so decidedly hostile to the true interests of the United 
States as not only to warrant, but to make it our duty, to 
forestall the designs of Admiral Thomas, if possible, by 
supplanting the Mexican flag with that of the United 
States at Monterey, San Francisco, and any other ten- 
able points within the territory said to have been re- 
cently ceded by secret treaty to Great Britain." 

These naval expoimders of the laws of nations would 
have regarded the expression by any European power 
of a doubt of the right of the United States to purchase 
territory in either of the four quarters of the globe, as an 
insult to the national sovereignty ; but they calmly deter- 
mine, without consulting their ovrn government, to rob 



REVIEV7 OF THE MEXICAN WAR. 85 

England of a territory they supposed she had acquired by 
treaty, although tluBy well knew that by such a robbery 
they would, of course, involve their country in a war with 
their great and powerful " commercial rival," 

The three officers composing the Council, as Avell as 
the Commodore, and the Secretary of the Navy under 
whom they were acting, were all from the slave States. 

On the 19th October, the Commodore entered the har- 
bor of Monterey. The Mexican and not the British flag 
met his sight, and of course he achieved an easy conquest. 
He landed, and, without opposition, took possession of the 
fort, and unfurled the stars and stripes. The provident 
Commodore had brought with, him for the edification of 
the Cahfornians, whom he intented instantly to transform 
into American citizens, printed proclamations in the Spa- 
nish lana^uafre, which were without loss of time distributed 
among the inhabitants. " These stripes and stars," said 
the proclamation, "infalhble emblems of civil hberty, of 
liberty of conscience, with constitutional right and lawful 
security to worship the great Deity in the way most con- 
genial to each one's sense of duty to his Creator, now float 
triumphantly before you, and hence and for ever will give 
protection and security to you and your children, and to 
countless unborn thousands." Amid all this fustian Ave 
distinctly discover, that the immediate and permaneyit an- 
nexation of California was the object of the expedition. 

It does not appear where this magnificent proclamation 
was prepared and printed. Printing presses are not, it is 
believed, included in the ordinaiy equipments of ships of 
war, and it is therefore a natural inference that the pro- 
clamation was printed either in Washington, or at Callao, 
the port from which the Commodore had departed for 
Monterey. In either case, it seems that the conquest of 
Cahfornia was deliberately resolved on before the Commo- 
• S 



86 REVIEW OF THE MEXIC;AN WAR. 



dore convened his officers to sanction by their advice the 
enterprise he had already commenced. On the 13th Sep- 
tember, six days after he had left Callao, and while on his 
coui'se to Monterey, he wrote to Mr. Upshur, " In all that 
I may do (in reference to California), I shall confine my- 
self strictly to what I may suppose would be your views 
and orders, had you the means of communicating them to 
me." Mr. Upshur's well-known sentiments, and the cha- 
racter of the ultra pro-slavery party to which he belonged, 
leave no doubt that the Commodore perfectly compre- 
hended his wishes. 

The day after Jones had distributed his proclamation 
with all its fine promises, he discovered that, instead of 
robbing Great Britain of a territory she had purchased, 
he had seized upon a possession of a neighboring Republic 
still at peace witb his own country. The " infallible em- 
blems of civil liberty," &c., <fec., were therefore lowered, 
and a due apology was made to the Mexican commander; 
and the succeeding day, the Commodore, abandoning the 
task of converting the Californians into American citizens, 
returned to the more inglorious but more innocent occu- 
pation of exploring the coast and bays of California, pre- 
paratory to another and less transient conquest. 

The Government at home was, of course, compelled to 
disavow Jones's act ; but in vain was his punishment de- 
manded by Mexico. She was informed that he " intended 
no indignity to the government of Mexico, nor anything 
unlawful to her citizens." - 



REVIEW OF THE MEXICAN WAR. 



CHAPTER XIII. 

NEGOTIATION AND REJECTION OF TREATY OF ANNEXATION 
WITH TEXAS. 

The treaty concluded with Great Britain in 1842, by re- 
moving all apprehension of collision with that power re- 
specting the north-eastern boundary, gave a fresh impe- 
tus to the partisans of annexation. It had been foreseen 
that a war with England, by diverting the forces of the 
United States, and by giving Mexico a powerful ally, 
might enable the latter to repossess herself of Texas. 
This danger being passed, Messrs. Tyler and Upshur de- 
termined that annexation should no longer be delayed. 
Texas, mor^ver, had been acknowledged by France and 
England. With the latter she had entered into a treaty 
for the suppression of the slave-trade, thus nominally 
yielding what the United States had sternly refused. This 
very treaty was alarming to the slaveholders, who became 
apprehensive that, if Texas was left to herself, owing to 
emigration from abroad, the time might come when sla- 
very would be abolished within her borders, and this ap- 
prehension seems to have been shared by some of the 
Texan leaders themselves. General Lamar, recently Pre- 
sident of the Republic, about this time addressed a letter 
to his friends in Georgia warning them that, unless an- 
nexation shall be effected, '' the anti-slavery party in Texas 
will acquire the ascendancy, and may not only aboHsh sla- 
very by a constitutional vote, but may change the whole 
character of the constitution itself. 

*' At present the anti-slavery party is in the minority ; 



S8 REVIEW OF THE MEXICAN WAR. 

but it woula be dangerous, even now, to agitate the ques- 
tion with much violence, for the majority of the people of 
Texas are not oiv tiers of slaves. Texas, if left to stand 
alone, there is every probability that slavery will be aban- 
doned in that country. The negroes are yet but few in 
number, and would be emancipated in the country with- 
out the slightest inconvenience, and indeed would continue 
to be useful in the capacity of hirelings." He then goes 
on to remark that, as to the southern States, annexation 
" would give stabihty and safety to their domestic institu- 
tions, and thereby save them for ever from the unpara- 
lelled calamities of abohtion." 

The very idea of freedom in Texas aroused the slave- 
holders to new and more resolute efforts for immediate 
annexation. So unequivocal had become the indications 
of a determination on the part of the south, to brook no 
longer delay, that at the close of the session of Congress 
in March, 1843, J. Q. Adams, and twelve other repre- 
sentatives pubhshed an address to the people of the 
United States, warning them of the machinations of the 
administration to secure the extension of slavery, by add- 
ing Texas to the Union — pointing out the gross violation 
of our neutral obligations towards Mexico, and calling 
upon the free States for renewed and increased activity to 
avert the calamity with which the country was threat- 
ened. Subsequent events speedily confirmed the fore- 
sight of this address, with a single exception. The ad- 
dress declared that the annexation of Texas would be a 
measure in such violation of the Constitution, and for a 
purpose so odious and profligate, as '* not only inevitably 
to result in a dissolution of the Union, but fully to justify 
it." How far this prediction was uttered in the spirit of 
prophecy, it is yet too soon to determine. 

Mr. Upshur, whose sjonpathies for Texas were, as we 
have seen, connected with the price of Virginia negroes, 



REVIEW OF THE MEXICAN WAR. 89 

was called by Mr. Tyler to the office of Secretary of State, 
and, availing himself of the facilities afforded by his nev/ 
office, prosecuted with vigor the work of opening another 
and most extensive slave market. 

On the 13 th September, 1843, he informed Mr. 
Thompson of the intention of the Government to remon- 
strate, in a formal manner, with Mexico, unless she shall 
make peace with Texas, or shall show a disposition and 
ability to prosecute the war with respectable forces. 
This was only another device to provoke a quarrel. The 
idea of our being offended with Mexico, because she was 
dilatory in killing our friends and brethren in Texas, was 
too ridiculous to be seriously pressed, even by Mr. Tyler's 
administration. A letter written by Upsher, a few days 
before, to Murphy, our agent in Texas, reveals the true 
reason why the Cabinet had indulged the thought of 
bullying Mexico into a peace with Texas. On the 8th 
September, he tells Murphy, there is a rumor of a plan 
in England, to raise money for the Texan government, 
wherewith to abolish slavery, by indemnifying the masters, 
and that the English capitalists were to take Texan land 
in payment. " Such an attempt," said the Secretary, 
ever anxious for the anticipated market for Virginia slaves, 
" upon any neighboring nation, would necessarily be 
viewed by this Government with very deep concern ; but 
when it is made upon a nation whose territory joins the 
slave-holding States of our Union, it awakens still more 
solemn interest. It cannot be permitted to succeed with- 
ous most strenuous efforts on our part to avert a 'calamity/ 
so serious to every part of our country. Few calamities 
could befal this country more to be deplored than the 
establishment of a predominant British influence, and the 

ABOLITION OF DOMESTIC SLAVERY IN TeXAS."* 

* Ex. Doc, 1st Sess., 28tli Cong. No. 271. 
8* 



90 REVIEW OF THE MEXICAN WAR. 



The con-espondence between Upshur and Murphy is 
one of the most humihating to a true-minded American, 
of any that has ever disgraced the annals of his country. 
" So far as this Governyient is concerned," writes Upshur, 
September 2 2d, 1843, "We have every desire to come 
to the aid of Texas in the most prompt and effectual man- 
ner. How far we shall be supported by the people, I 
regret, is somewhat doubtful. There is no reason to fear 
there will be any difference of opinion among the people 
of the SLAVE-HOLDING States." Murphy, in his reply, 
September 24th, 1843, takes the liberty of giving the 
Secretaiy of State some shrewd advice, — " Say nothing 
about aboHtion ;" and again, in another letter, " Do not 
offend our fanatical brethren of the north. Talk about 
civil and political and religious liberty. This will be 
found the safest issue to go before the world with." In 
other words, go before the world with a lie in your mouth 
about the rights and hberty of Texas, which is already as 
free as we are, and conceal from the people of the north, 
that our only object is to extend and perpetuate negro 
slavery. The adnce was partially followed, and the cry 
of " extend the area of freedom " was raised by the slave- 
holders and their northern alHes. But " out of the 
fulness of the heart the mouth speaketh," and before long, 
all disguise was set aside, and the true object boldly and 
unblushingly avowed " before the world,'' both by the 
Government and by southern legislatures and popular 
meetings. The story of the contemplated pecuniary con- 
tribution in England to advance the cause of human 
liberty in Texas, was unfoitunateiy without foundation ; 
like a multitude of similar falsehoods in relation to the 
anti-slavery interference of England, it was intended to 
faciUtate annexation. On the l7th October, Upshur pro- 
posed to the Texan agent a treaty of annexation. The 



REVIEW OF THE MEXICAN WAR. 91 

Mexican Minister at Washington, aware of the intrigues of 
the Cabinet, gave notice, that if Texas were received into 
the Union, he must ask for his passports. Mr. Upshur 
rephed in an insuking tone, declining all explanation, and 
treating with scorn the intimation of Mexican hostility. 
In the mean time, the Texans having shown less eager- 
ness to enter into the proposed treaty than Upshur had 
anticipated, he became alarmed, and thought proper to 
menace even the free and independent Republic of Texas. 
He wrote to Murphy (January 16th, 1844,) of course for 
the information of the Texan leaders, that in case annex- 
ation should be declined by the latter, " Instead of being, 
as we ought to be, the closest friends, it is inevitable we 
shall become the bitterest foes ;" and he warns them, that 
without annexation, Texas " cannot maintain that institu- 
tion (slavery) ten years — probably not half that time.'" 
To remove all apprehension, that, if Texas should consent 
to a treaty of annexation, she might be subjected to the 
mortification of having the treaty rejected for want of the 
constitutional majority of two-thirds of the Senate in its 
favor, he hazarded, in his desperation, the following most 
extraordinary assertion : — " Measures have been taken to 
ascertain the opinions and views of Senators upon the sub- 
ject, and it is o,scertained that a clear majority of two- 
thirds are in favor of the measure ! ! " The fact that this 
very Senate, whose votes Mr. Upshur professed to have 
canvassed, rejected the treaty, by a majority of more than 
two-thirds, throws a painful suspicion upon the personal 
veracity of the American Secretary ; and the more so, as 
no explanation was ever given to the public of the won- 
derful discrepancy between his canvass and the actual 
vote. 

Great Britain thought proper to disavow the machina- 
tions which it had been deemed expedient by the parti- 



92 REVIEW OF THE MEXICAN WAR. 



sans of^mxas to ascribe to her. Our Government was, on 
the 8th April, officially informed, that it was indeed well 
tnown to the whole world that Great Britain desired the j 
abolition of Slavery wherever it existed, but that she I 
would not unduly interfere to accomplish it — that she 
aimed at no dominant influence in Texas, and that, in 
striving for human hberty, the Government would not 
*' openly nor secretly resort to any measures which can 
tend to disturb the tranquillity, or thereby affect the pros- 
perity of the American Union." This avowal, so frank 
and honorable, so becoming a free and a christian people, 
perhaps hurried the conclusion of the treaty, as it re- 
moved one of the pretended reasons alleged for its neces- 
sity. Four days after the British document was received, 
Mr. Calhoun, as Secretary of State, to which office he had 
been appointed on the death of 'Mr. Upshur, had the 
gratification of signing a treaty with Texas, by which that 
State was annexed to the American Union. 

In the proud elation of feeling caused by so signal a 
triumph in the cause of human bondage, Mr. Calhoun re- 
plied on the 8th April, 1844, to the communication from 
the English Minister. He declared that the President 
viewed with deep concern, the desire avowed by Great 
Britain for the abolition of slavery ; that in his opinion, 
Texas by herself, could not withstand a compliance with 
this desire, and therefore " It is the imperative duty of 
the Federal Government, the common representative and 
protector of the States of the Union, to adopt, in self- 
defence, the most effectual meaiis to resist it ;" and that, 
in obedience to this obligation, a treaty of annexation had 
been concluded. "And this step" (he asserted) " had been 
taken as the most effectual, if not the only means of 
guarding against the threatened danger." The next day 
he addressed a letter to the American Agent in Mexico, 



REVIEW OF THE MEXICAN WAR. 93 

anuouncing the conclusion of the treaty, a step, he says, 
** whicfi was forced on the Government of the United States 
in self-defence, in consequence of the policy adopted by 
Great Britain in reference to the abolition of slavery in 
Texas:' 

The audacious mendacity of this declaration is the more 
remarkable, as Mr. Calhoun's own language bears witness 
to its falsity. The readers of these sheets have already 
had abundant proof, that the annexation of Texas was 
prompted by other motives than " self-defence" against 
the anti- slavery policy of Great Britain, as manifested in 
that Republic. So early as the 27th May, 1836, imme- 
diately after the rumor of the battle of San Jacinto, 
and even before the official account of the victory had 
reached Washington, and while Great Britain was wholly 
ignorant of the existence of such a Republic as Texas, 
Mr. Calhoun, in his place in the Senate, proposed the 
recognition of the Independence of Texas, and her 
immediate admission into the Union ! ! In his speech on 
the occasion, he remarked, " There were powerful rea- 
sons why Texas should be a part of this Union. The 
southern States, owning a slave population, were deeply 
interested in preventing that country from having the power 
to annoy them:'* A revolted province was in actual war 
with the parent country, and, while the slain in the last 
battle were still unburied, this champion of slavery pro- 
poses the instant incorporation of this province into the 
Union for the benefit of the slaveholders — utterly reckless 
of the wickedness of the act, trampling under foot the 
obligations of neutrality, and regardless of the calamities 
of war which such a measure would inevitably inflict upon 
nis country. 

But it is not enough that Mr. Calhoun's statement 

* Cong. Globe— 29th Cong., 2d Sess., p. 496 



94 ^ REVIEW OF THE MEXICAN WAR, 



should be falsified by himself. We summon a witness far 
more competent, and quite as credible as himself. Gene- 
ral Houston may well be called the father of the Texan 
Republic, having commanded its army on the field of San 
Jacinto, and afterwards presided over its councils as Pre- 
Fident. The treaty with England was negotiated under 
his direction, and he was necessarily intimately acquainted 
with all the foreign relations of Texas. He was, more- 
over, chosen by the State of Texas to represent her in the 
United States Senate. On the 19th February, 1847, he 
declared in his place in the Senate, " England never pro- 
posed the subject of slavery or of abolition to Texas; 
Eno-land never made a suo^ojestion to Texas which, if she 

& DO ' 

had pursued or accepted, would have degraded her in the 
eyes of the purest patriot that ever lived. Captain Elhot 
(British Minister in Texas) required nothing but commer- 
cial relations between England and Texas, and an inter- 
change of her fabrics for the products of the South.''* So 
much for the monstrous assertion that the treaty of annex- 
ation " was forced upon the Government of the United 
States in self-defence, in consequence of the policy adopted 
by Great Britain in reference to the abolition of slavery in 
Texas." 

The treaty referred to was submitted to the Senate on 
the 22d April, 1844, and was rejected by that body by 
a vote of thirty-five to sixteen, Mr. Upshur's pledge to 
the Texan Government, that two-thirds of the Senate 
would approve of it, notwithstanding. 

Under no circumstances could this treaty have received 
the consent of two-thirds of the Senate, but the greatness 
of the vote against it was owing to other causes than -hosr 
tility to annexation. Mr. Tyler was the most unpopular 
President that had ever occupied the Executive Chair. 

* Cong. Globe— 29th Cong. 2d Sess., p. 459. 



REVIEW OF THE MEXICAN WAR. 95 

He was without personal or political influence, and his 
term of office was now so nearly expired, that he had but 
little patronage with which to secure Senatorial votes. It 
was clearly ascertained that the treaty could not be rati- 
fied even were all the friends of annexation to vote for it ; 
and hence many of those friends consulted their own 
political views and prejudices in swelling the majority 
against it, and thus thwarting the aspirations of Mr. Cal- 
houn. A presidential election was approaching, and the 
southern opponents of Mr. Calhoun were well content to 
diminish by their votes the influence his zeal in the cause 
of Texas was calculated to give him. Although eager 
for Texas, they could not vote for a treaty so very objec- 
tionable as that made by Mr. Calhoun ; whereas, had its 
ratification depended on them, there is little doubt their 
votes would have been different. 



96 REVIEW OF THE MEXICAN WAR. 



CHAPTER XIV. 

MORE ATTEMPTS TO IRRITATE MEXICO. 

The majority in the Senate against the Texan treaty had 
taught Messrs. Tyler and Calhoun the necessity of pre- 
venting, as far as possible, any new obstacle to a measure 
so near to their hearts. One great argument for annexa- 
tion was, that the war had virtually ceased between Texas 
and Mexico, the latter having for years refrained from all 
active hostihty. Suddenly the Cabinet was alarmed 
by some threatening proclamations issued by the Mexican 
authorities against Texas, couched in the usual inflated 
style. Past experience had shown the inability of Mexico 
to subdue her rebeUious province, sheltered, as it was, 
beneath the wing of the great republic. The threats of 
the Mexicans were, indeed, idle words ; but Mr. Tyler knew 
that, should the war be in fact renewed, its existence 
would be an argument against annexation, as that measure 
under such circumstances would necessarily make the 
United States a party to the war. It was, therefore, 
resolved either to induce Mexico to relinquish her design 
to renew hostiUties, or else to goad her into war against 
ourselves. Hence, on the 14th October, 1844, Mr. Shan- 
non, who had succeeded Mr. Thompson at Mexico, in obe- 
dience to instructions, presented to the Government an 
insolent remonstrance against the farther prosecution of 
the war, and the sanguinary spirit in which it was to be 
waged. He declared that the war was to be renewed for 
the purpose of defeating annexation, an object which 



REVIEW OF THE MEXICAN WAR. 97 

Mr. Tyler would not permit — dwelt upon the importance 
of Texas to this country, and plainly intimated that we 
could not permit her to be invaded, without espou- 
sing her quarrel. We can readily conceive with what 
intense indignation our own Government would re- 
ceive a similar letter from a British Minister, insult- 
ing us for our barbarous mode of conducting the war 
against Mexico, threatening us with vengeance unless 
we made peace, and permitted the peaceful cession of 
California to the British crown. Mexico, feeble and 
exhausted, could resent the insult only in words ; but 
they were words full of dignity, truth, and common 
sense. Mr. Rejon, the Mexican Secretary (October 20th, 
1844), informed Shannon that he *' has orders to repel 
the protest now addressed to his Government, and to 
declare that the President of the United States is much 
mistaken, if he supposes Mexico capable of yielding to 
the menace which he, exceeding the powers given to him by 
the fundamental law of his nation, has directed against 
it." After commenting on the conduct of the United 
States, he concluded, •* while one power is seeking more 
ground to stain by the slavery of an unfortunate branch 
of the human family, the other is endeavoring, by pre- 
ser\ung what belongs to it, to diminish the surface which 
the former wants for this detestable traffic. Let the world 
now say, which of the two has justice and reason on 
its side." 

This letter was received in high dudgeon by Mr. Shan- 
non, who haughtily demanded a retraction of the Secre- 
tary's letter, on the penalty of suspending all farther 
intercourse till he heard from Washington. To this 
impertinence, Mr. Rejon replied that he was not surprised 
by Mr. Shannon's reluctance to discuss the conduct of his 
Government. " In fact, to what else can be attributed 
9 



98 REVIEW OF THE MEXICAN AVAR. 

this exclusive desire to claim for himself, his nation, and 
his Government, that respect denied by him to the 
Mexican Republic and its Government, to which he has 
so often applied the term barbarous, in his note of 14th 
October ? Is the Government of the United States 
superior in dignity, or has its legislature any right to be 
thus wanting in respect to a Government to which it has 
refused the attentions due by courtesy to mere individu- 
als ? Instead of withdrawing his letter, he is ordered to 
reiterate his former statements." 

The manly, honest rebuke administered by Rejon to 
-President Tyler, naturally gave great offence to that gen- 
tleman; and on the 19th December, 1844, he laid the 
-correspondence before Congress with very indignant 
comments on *' the extraordinary and highly offensive 
language which the Mexican Government has thought 
proper to employ." But although he thought the con- 
duct of Mexico " might well justify the United States in 
a resort to any measure to vindicate their national honor," 
he abstained, through a sincere desire to preserve peace, 
from recommending a resort to " measures of redress," 
and contented himself with urging " prompt and imme- 
diate action on the subject of annexation." 



REVIEW OF THE MEXICAN WAR. 99 



CHAPTER XV 



ELECTION OF MR. POLK. 



A SUCCESSOR to Mr. Tyler was to be chosen at the close 
of 1844 ; but, when the treaty was rejected in June of 
that year, no poHtical sagacity could predict upon whom 
the choice would fall. Mr. Tyler's wayward course, 
together with other causes, had greatly curtailed the 
power of the whigs ; but there was no proof that they 
had lost their ascendency. 

In many instances the slaveholders had boldly declared, 
that no candidate opposed to annexation, should receive 
their vote. This sentiment was uttered in the formal 
resolves of their popular meeting, and reiterated by the 
slave press. Mr. Clay was the whig candidate ; and to 
his influence at the South was added the cordial and 
unanimous support of the whigs at the North ; under his 
auspices the party anticipated a decided victory. The 
democratic party presented a much less imposing front 
than its rival. Its prominent candidate was Mr. Van 
Buren who, as well as Mr. Clay, had expressed a cautious 
qualified opinion adverse to annexation at the present ti7ne, 
and under existing circumstances ; but neither had 
ventured to hint an objection to the extension of slavery. 
The democratic nominating convention met at Baltimore late 
in May, and gave Mr. Van Buren a majority of its votes, as 
the democratic candidate for the Presidency. But the 
Southern members insisted and finally succeeded, that a 
majority of two-thirds should be necessary to a nomination. 



100 REVIEW OF THE MEXICAN WAR. 

The two-tliird rule of course made those members masters 
of the Convention ; and it was soon found that no candi- 
date could be selected except the nominee of the slave- 
holders. Mr. Van Buren was rejected ; and the northern 
democracy were compelled to accept Mr. Polk in his room. 
The quaHficadons which procured for this gentleman the 
honor of a nomination, were doubtless his devotion to the 
cause of sla.very, his vituperation of the abolitionists and 
a recent printed letter in which he advocated the imme- 
diate ANNEXATION OF TeXAS. 

The Convention having thus been compelled to nomi- 
nate Mr. Polk, the triumph of the democratic pai'ty, and 
its possession of power and office, of course depended on 
his election. To secure that election, the party were ne- 
cessarily compelled to adopt as their own the policy 
avowed by their candidate. Hence it became expedient 
for the Convention, as the representatives of the whole 
democratic party, to insist upon the immediate annexation 
of Texas, and to enter the contest with these ominous 
words inscribed on their banners. Many of the party 
presses at the North had been loud in their denunciations 
of the Texan plot ; and in the northern legislatures, demo- 
crats had vied with the whigs in passing resolutions con- 
demning annexation. But the council of Baltimore was 
deemed infallible in matters of faith ; and forthwith the 
democracy of the North united with the slaveholders 
of the South in their eflforts to extend the curse of human"^ 
bondage. Mr. Polk received a majority of the electoral 
votes, but not of the popular suffrage by which the Elec- 
tors had been chosen. 



REVIEW OF THE MEXICAN WAR. 101 



CHAPTER XVI. 

ANNEXATION BY JOINT RESOLUTION. 

Until tlie refusal of the Senate to ratify Mr. Tyler^s 
treaty, no other mode of annexation than by treaty had 
been imagined. Texas claimed to be an independent na- 
tion, and had been acknowledged as such by the United 
States, France, and Great Britain. But contracts between 
independent nations are treaties, and the constitution in- 
trusts the power of making treaties to the President and 
two-thirds of the Senate. Of all contracts between two 
nations, none can be more important and solemn than that 
which surrenders the sovereignty and domains of the one 
to the other. All the territory which had been added to 
the United States, had been acquired by treaty. Hence, 
Avhen Texas contemplated annexation, she proposed doing 
it by treaty ; and Messrs. Tyler, Upshur, and Calhoun, all 
concurred at a later date in inviting Texas to enter the 
confederacy by the operation of a treaty. But the slave- 
holders were reminded by the recent occurrences, that it 
required a majority of two-thirds of the Senate to annex 
a foreign territory in accordance with the provisions of the 
Constitution ; and that, as half of the Senators repre- 
sented free States, such a majority was at present unat- 
tainable. Necessity is the mother of invention ; and the 
truth of the aphorism now received a remarkable illustra- 
tion. It was suddenly discovered, that what could not be 
effected by treaty, could as well be performed bv a joint 
9* 



102 ^^REVIEW OF THE MEXICAN WAR. 

resolution of the two houses of Congress. Such a reso- 
lution required only a bare majority in each branch. In 
this way treaties for the future, might be dispensed with 
whenever the Senate was found uncomplying ; and the 
foreign intercourse of the nation might be regulated, dis- 
puted boundaries settled, and even the conditions of peace 
determined, by joint resolution. To whom is to be attri- 
buted this ino-enious device for setting: aside the Constitu- 
tion, smothering the oaths taken to support it, and usurp- 
ing the treaty-making power, is not known ; but Mr. Tyler 
has the credit of first announcing the discovery to the 
public. Mortified and irritated by the rejection of his 
treat}'-, he immediately appealed to the House of Repre- 
tatives, laying the dishonored document before them, and 
hinting that it was possible to effect annexation b)^ other 
means than a treaty. But Mr. Tyler had so utterly anni- 
hilated the respect and confidence he had once enjoyed, 
that his influence was nugatory for good or for evil. The 
annexation of Texas was indeed effected, but it was effected 
by other influences than those wielded by himself or by 
Mr. Calhoun. 

The administration of Mr. Tyler Avas to close, and that 
of Mr. Polk to commence, on the 4th March, 1845. The 
vote againt the annexation treaty the preceding June, had 
convinced the partisans of Texas, of the impossibility of 
effecting their favorite object in a constitutional mode, and 
the friends of human liberty congratulated themselves that 
the danger was passed. The election, however, of Mr. 
Polk, by identifying the democracy of the North with the 
policy of the South, revived the hopes, and invigorated 
the efforts of the friends of Texas. The patronage of the 
government had now for the next four years been placed 
at the disposal of an avowed and zealous advocate of 
annexation. Under these circumstances, it was deter- 



REVIEW OF THE MEXICAN WAR. 103 

mined to make a new effort to secure Texas, regardless 
of the Constitution. Nor was the expectation very un- 
reasonable, that a majority of the very Senate that had 
treated Tyler with contumely, as he was sinking below 
the horizon, might do homage to the rising sun. 

Mr. Polk was to be sworn into office on the 4th March ; 
and this circumstance afforded an excuse for the arrival at 
the Capitol some weeks earlier, of the dispenser of the na- 
tion's patronage. His presence is well understood to have 
exerted a powerful influence on the votes subsequently 
given. On the 1st March, 1845, the famous joint resolu- 
tions, for the annexation of Texas as one of the States of 
the Federal Union, were finally passed after a severe and 
doubtful struggle. 

One of the most extraordinary incidents of this most 
extraordinary and calamitous legislation, was the very pe- 
culiar tenderness of conscience evinced by certain southern 
Senators. The Lower House had passed a simple resolu- 
tion of annexation by a majority of twenty-two. But some 
of the Senators, although rabid for Texas, were troubled 
by the oath they had taken to support the Constitution, 
and they did not well know hov/ to reconcile that oath 
witli the trickery by which it was intended to nullify the 
treaty-making power. They were happily relieved by the 
addition of another resolution virtually giving to the Pre- 
sident the option of effecting annexation by resolution or 
hy treaty. This ingenious device of authorizing the Presi- 
dent to respect or contemn at pleasure the requirements 
of the Constitution, and throwing upon him the responsi- 
bility of the choice, relieved the scruples of these conscien- 
tious gentlemen, and enabled them almost at the very last 
hour, by the change of their votes, to carry the question 
of annexation, in the Senate, by a majority of two. Should 
this strange expedient for satisfying constitutional scruples 



104 ^^AfiVIEW OF THE MEXICAN WAR. 



seem insufficient for the momentous effects ascribed to it, 
possibly a more satisfactory cause may be found in a de- 
claration made in a southern paper during the debate, 
*' We rejoice that those deserting democrats who oppose 
this vital measure which Mr. Polk so anxiously desires to 
be settled at this session, will have nothing to expect 
FROM HIS administration." As Mr. Polk was at this 
time at Washington, it is not unreasonable to believe that 
the editor of the Richmond Enquirer, was not the sole 
confidant of his intention to withhold office from every 
member who voted against annexation. 

One of the gentlemen whose scruples threatened to de- 
feat annexation — but Avho, on his conscience becoming en- 
ho-htened, voted for the measure, and thus ensured it a 
majority in the Senate — was subsequently appointed by 
Mr. Polk to a foreign mission. 

No time was lost by Mr. Tyler in making the choice 
offered to him by the joint resolutions. On the 3rd 
March, a few hours before his term of office expired, 
he despatched a messenger to the American agent in 
Texas, with a letter from Mr. Calhoun, instructing him to 
propose the resohition of annexation to the acceptance of 
the Texan Government, very sensibly objecting to annex- 
ation by treaty, because a treaty " must be submitted to 
the Senate for its ratification, and run the hazard of re- 
ceiving the votes of two- thirds of the members present, 
which could hardly be expected if we are to judge from 
recent experienced'^ On the 4th July, Texas consented to 

* The late Chancellor Kent, of Xew York, Avas at this time 
Tinquestionably the most eminent Jurist in America. He thus 
•wrote to a member of Congress : — " I acknowledge your speech 
of January last on the Annexation of Texas. I have perused it 
■with much satisfaction ; and I deem it perfectly conclusive, that 
the Annexation of Texas, by concurrent resolution of Coiigress, 
■was unwarrantable, and a usurpation of the treaiy-maMng poicer ; 
in every view, violent, unjust, unconstitutional, and most per- 
aicious and unprincipled, and v;ill lead to the ruin of the Union." 



REVIEW OF THE MEXICAN WAR. 105 

be annexed, and the 22nd of the ensuing December, she 
was formally received as a State into the Federal Union. 

Independent of the violence done to the cause of mor- 
ality in the nwde by which annexation was effected, and 
in the motive by which it was prompted, the measure it- 
self was a gross and palpable violation of the neutral ob- 
ligations of the United States. It is freely admitted that 
Texas was at the time an independent State, and as such 
had a right to form a union with the Federal Republic. 
But Texas was at war with Mexico ; and we have seen 
that Mr. Tyler not merely acknowledged the existence of 
the war, but, after his Treaty of Annexation had been 
rejected, officially remonstrated with Mexico on the ba.)'- 
harous manner in which that power intended to prosecute 
hostilities. It is impossible to deny that a neutral nation, 
forming an alliance offensive and defensive with another at 
the time engaged in war, by that very act becomes herself 
a belligerent. But annexation was an alliance, in the strong- 
est sense, both offensive and defensive. So sensible wasr" 
the Administration of this fact, that, as 'we shall see here- 
after, a land and naval force was prepared to defend Texas 
against the meditated assault of Mexico. If after the 
commencement of hostilities between Mexico and the 
United States, England or France had accepted a cession 
of California from Mexico, the acceptance itself Avould 
have been tantamount to a declaration of war against this 
countr3^ Had a fleet and army been sent from Europe 
to protect Mexico from our invasion, would the fact that 
Mexico was an independent nation have satisfied us that 
we had no cause for complaint at such an interference ? 
By the laws of nations, annexation was an act of war 
against Mexico. 

Eight years before this event, the Rev. Dr. Channing, 
of Boston, in a publication against the spheme which he 



lOt) ^^l^'IEW or THE MEXICAN WAR^ 



well knew was entertained by the Administration — of add- 
ing Texas to the Union — uttered the following fearful 
prediction, which has now for the most part become his- 
tory : — " By this act (annexation) our country w^ill enter on 
a career of encroachment and crime, and will meiit the pun- 
ishment and woe of aggravated wrong- doing. The seizure 
of Texas will not stand alone. It will be linked, by an 
iron necessity, to long-continued deeds of rapine and 
BLOOD. Ages may not see the catastrophy of the tragedy 
the first scene of which we are so ready to enact. Texas 
is a country conquered by. our citizens, and the annexation 
of it to our Union will be but the beginning of conquests, 
Avhich, unless arrested and beaten back by Pro\idence, 
will stop only at the Isthmus of Darien. Henceforth we 
must cease to cry — Peace, peace. Our Eagle will whet, 
not gorge, his appetite on his first victim, and will snufF 
a more tempting quarry, more alluring blood, in every 
new region which opens southward.'* 



REVIEW OF THE MEXICAN WAR. 107 



CHAPTER XVII. 

ANNEXATION OF CALIFORNIA DESIGNED BY MR. POLK. 

Immediately after the final vote on the annexation of 
Texas had been taken in the Senate, a senator from Flo- 
rida arose in his place, and introduced a resolution de- 
claring it expedient for the President to open negotiations 
for the cession of the Island of Cuba to the United States. 
No action was called for ; the sole object of the resolution 
being to familiarize the public mind with devices for the 
acquirement of slave territory. The addition of Texas 
operated but as blood to the famished wolf ; and the ap- 
petite for Mexican pro^^nces, instead of being satiated, 
was stimulated to a ravenous ferocity. Texas had been 
gained virtually under Mr. Tyler's administration, and 
there is reason to believe that Mr. Polk was resolved that 
his should be signalized by the annexation of California. 
This province had long excited the cupidity of the slave- 
holders, and great efforts were now made to stimulate 
public opinion into unison with the designs of the Presid- 
ent. The newspapers teemed with articles on the fertility 
of California, its vast importance to the United States, 
and, as a matter of course, the secret designs of Great 
Britain to appropriate it to herself, either by force or by 
treaty. The reader will recollect the premature seizure 
and annexation for ever of California by Commodore Jones : 
he will also call to mind that, at an earlier period, fruit- 
less efforts had been made to purchase the province, 
^s'hole or in part. Already many of our restless wander- 



108 ^^HJIEW OF THE MEXICAN WAR. 

ing adventurers had penetrated into that distant territory ; 
and the opinion had been extensively propagated, that it 
was a region too rich and too convenient to be left in pos- 
session of the Mexicans. The Mexican Government, 
taught wisdom by the result of Texan colonization, made 
an order expelling American citizens from California. 
Our Minister protested ; and the ordinance was so modi- 
fied as to include all foreigners deemed dangerous to the 
public peace. But against this Mr. Calhoun, then Secre- 
tary of State, ordered a new protest. 

Let us now attend to the confessions of our Minister, 
Mr. Thompson: "Near the end of December, 1843, I 
received information that the Government of Mexico had 
issued an order expelling all natives of the United States 
from the department of California and the adjoining de- 
partments. No attempt, however, had been made up to 
that time to execute the order. A similar order had been 
issued a few years before, including not only citizens of 
the United States, but British subjects also ; and this 
order had been actually executed to the great damage 
and, in some instances, ruin of the persons removed. All 
the efforts of the English and American Ministers to 
procure a recision of this order were ineffectual for six 
months. I had the good fortune, however, after a some- 
what angry correspondence, to have the order rescinded, 
not, however, until I resorted to the ultima ratio of diplo- 
macy, AND DEMANDED MY PASSPORTS — a measurc whlch a 
minister is rarely justified in resorting to without the orders 
of his government. I confess I was very much afraid 
that the passports would have been sent ; but I thought 
that the step was justified by the circumstances, and that 
it would cut short a long discussion. The result showed 
that in this calculation I was right. The order was re- 
scinded, and expresses sent to all the departments, the 



REVIEW OF THE MEXICAN WAR. 109 

distance of some of which was two thousand miles. I 
confess that in taking the high ground I did, upon the 
order expelHng our people from Cahfornia, I felt ^ome 
compunctious visitings ; for I had been informed that a 
plot had been arranged, and ivas about being developed by 
the Americans and other foreigners in that department, to 
re-enact the scenes of Texas'' * 

Mr. Thompson, in describing California, says : " Sugar, 
rice, and cotton, find there their own congenial clime " — 
p. 234. Of course the same motives which led to the 
*' scenes in Texas," would prompt their re-enactment in 
California. We shall see hereafter that Mr. Thompson 
was not misinformed. 

There were two modes of acquiring California — by- 
negotiation and by war. The first was the most econo- 
mical, the latter would probably be the most expeditious, 
but, unless commenced by Mexico, would be extremely 
hazardous to the popularity and stability of the Admini- 
stration. 

By blustering about our claims, swelling them to the 
greatest possible point of inflation, and then kindly offer- 
ing to waive them all in consideration of a cession of Cali- 
fornia, and throwing in a douceur of a few millions, per- 
haps it might be possible to worry Mexico into a surren- 
der of the pro\ince. But the result was doubtful. Mexico 
had been very tenacious of her soil, and had refused every 
bribe to part with it. War was the alternative. Mexico 
was just now extremely sensitive on the subject of Texas. 
Her Minister at Washington had demanded his passports 
on the passage of the joint resolutions, Mr. Shannon, 
after irritating the Government by his insulting demeanor, 
had left Mexico, and all diplomatic intercourse between 
the two countries was now suspended. Under such cir- 

* Recollections of Mexico, p. 227-232. 
10 



110 lIS^iEW OF THE MEXICAN WAR. 

cumstances, it would not be difficult to excite ca war, and 
a war would give us California. But then a war, to be 
popular or even to be endured by the North, which would 
share its burdens but not its spoils, must be " a war by 
the act of Mexico." 

It was obviously most expedient to try negotiation in 
the first instance, and, if that failed, then to bring on a 
war by inducing Mexico to strike the first blow. Such a 
war could be waged as one of defence, not of aggression ; 
Mexico would of course be immediately humbled, and we 
might dictate the terais of peace, one of which would be 
the surrender of the coveted province. Subsequent events 
have manifested that the policy we have explained was 
early adopted by Mr. Polk, and maintained with un- 
wavering pertinacity. 



REVIEW OF THE MEXICAN WAR. Ill 



CHAPTER XVIII. ^ 

MISSION OF MR. SLIDELL TO MEXICO. 

Before an attempt could be made to acquire California 
by negotiation, it was necessary to restore the diplomatic 
intercourse between the two countries. For this purpose, 
the American Consul in Mexico, in compliance with in- 
structions, addressed a letter, 13th October, 1845, to the 
Mexican Secretary of State, inquiring whether the Mexi- 
can Government *' would receive an Envoy from the 
United States, entrusted with full powers to adjust all 
questions in dispute between the two Governments.'" Two 
days afterwards, the Secretary personally delivered to the 
Consul a reply, stating, ''that although the Mexican na- 
tion is deeply injured by the United States through the 
acts committed by them in the Department of Texas, 
which belongs to this nation, my Government is disposed 
to receive the Commissioner of the United States who may 
come to this country with full powers to settle the present 
dispute in a peaceful, reasonable, and honorable manner, 
thus giving a new proof that even in the midst of its inju- 
ries and of its firm decision to exact adequate reparation 
for them, it does not repell with contumely the measures 
of reason and peace to which it is invited by its adver- 
sary." This, it will be observed, was an indirect reply to 
the question put by the Consul. Instead of consenting to 
receive an Envoy with full powers to adjust all questions 
in dispute, the Secretary refers expressly to the dispute 



112 RE^»*V OF THE IVIEXICAN WAR, 

about Texas, and, willi a show of condescension, says 
that his Government will receive the Commissioner who 
may come to settle the preseni disjmte. The language 
irresistibly refers to a Commissioner who is to offer, not 
to demand, reparation for a certain injury, alleged to 
have been committed in " the department of Texas." 

Such is the fair, and indeed, the only inference to be 
drawn from the answer returned to the Consul. The 
answer was not improbably dictated by that species of 
cunning which pohticians are so apt to mistake for wis- 
dom. It may have been the design of the Mexican Gov- 
ernment to use language which would hereafter permit it 
to reject an AmenQ,2in Minister, or to refuse entering with 
him into negotiations on other topics than Texas, should 
circumstances render such a course expedient. A similar 
cunning Avas evinced by the Cabinet at Washington in its 
prompt acceptance of the equivocal reply of the Mexican 
Secretary, as a full and explicit answer to the question 
proposed by the Consul. Should the Envoy be received, 
the affair of Texas would of course be set aside as res adju- 
dicata, while the alternative of California or payment of 
claims would be pressed upon the feeble, distracted Gov- 
ernment of Mexico. If, however, the Envoy should be 
rejected on the ground, that the Government had con- 
sented to receive only a Commissioner to treat about 
Texas, then loud complaints of breach of faith, and of 
insult offered to the national honor, would prove conven- 
ient incentives to war. Mr. Polk avoiding all explanations, 
hurried off" Mr. Slidell, of Louisiana, as Minister to Mexico, 
within three weeks of the meeting of Congress, and of 
course without waiting for the confirmation of his nomina- 
tion by the Senate. The Mexican Secretary, mindful of 
the rudeness with which his Government had been hitherto 
treated by American functionaries, expressed the hope. 



REVIEW OF THE MEXICAN WAR. 113 

that the person now to be sent would be one " whose 
dignity and prudence, and moderation, and the discreet- 
ness and reasonableness of his proposals, will tend to 
calm, as much as possible, the just irritation of the Mexi- 
cans." How far the gentleman selected by Mr. Polk 
endeavored to exercise a calmivg influence, will be seen in 
the sequel. 

On the 3d of December, it was reported in Mexico, that 
the new Envoy had landed at Vera Cruz. On this, the 
Mexican Secretary sought an interview with our Consul, 
and begged him to induce Mr. Slidell to postpone, for the 
present, his appearance in the Capital, as he had not been 
expected before January, by which time the Government, 
having collected the opinion and consent of the departments, 
" it would be able to proceed in the affair with more security." 
The existing administration were charged by the party in 
opposition with being too friendly to the United States. 
" You know," remarked the Secretary to the Consul, *' the 
opposition are calling us traitors for entering into this ar- 
rangement with you;" and he declared that the Govern- 
ment were afraid that the appearance of the Envoy at 
this time would produce a revolution against it, which 
would terminate in its destruction.* The Consul imme- 
diately advanced to meet Mr. Slidell, and at Puebla ac- 
quainted him with the wishes of the Government. Far 
from consulting those wishes, he pushed on to the Capital, 
where he arrived on Saturday, the 6th of December, and 
the ensuing Monday officially announced his arrival, and 
asked for an audience for the purpose of presenting his 
credentials as Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Pleni- 
potentiary of the United States. This letter was the same 
day delivered by the Consul to the Mexican Secretary of 
State, who assured him that *' he himself was well dis- 

* 29th Cong., 1st Scss., Senate Documents, No. 337, p. 18. 
10* 



114 ^Tlfci'IEW OF THE MEXICAN WAR. 

posed to have everything amicably arranged, but that the 
opposition was strong, and opposed the Government with 
great violence in this measure, and that the Government 
had to proceed with great caution ; that nothing positive 
could be done until the new Congress met in Januar}'." 
On Wednesday, the 10th December, Slidell was informed 
that his letter must be submitted to the Council of Gov- 
ernment before a reply could be returned. But this gen- 
tleman would not brook delay, and on Saturday sent the 
Consul to inquire when an answer would be given. The 
Consul was told the letter had been submitted to a Com- 
mittee of the Council, and that as soon as the Committee 
had reported, an answer would be sent ; that Mr. Slidell 
came as a resident Minister, and not a Commissioner to 
treat of Texas, as was expected. The Secretary appealed 
to the Consul, that he himself knew " the critical situa- 
tion of the Mexican Government, and that it had to pro- 
ceed with great caution and circumspection in this affair ; 
that the Government itself ivas ivell disposed to arrange all 
difficulties." 

These assurances of the friendly dispositions of the Gov- 
ernment, and their earnest soHcitation for a httle delay, till 
those dispositions could be sanctioned and supported by the 
Congress about to assemble, seemed to have confirmed Mr. 
Slidell in his resolution to /orce matters to extremities ; and 
accordingly, without waiting for the report of the Commit- 
tee, he dispatched another letter on the ensuing Monday to 
the Secretary, requiring to know when he might expect an 
answer to his first, and declaring, what was absolutely 
false, that " he is necessarily ignorant of the reasons which 
have caused so long a delay." The "long delay" was 
precisely seven days, and within that time he had been 
twice officially informed through the Consul of " the rea- 
sons" of the delav. To this letter an ansvrer was returned. 



REVIEW OF THE MEXICAN WAR. 115 

stating that the delay complained of, had arisen from cer- 
tain difficulties arising from the nature of his commission, 
compared with the character of a negotiator to treat on 
the subject of Texas, whom the United States had pro- 
posed to send to Mexico ; that the subject had been sub- 
mitted to the Council of Government, and that the result 
would be communicated to him without loss of time. The 
next day, iVth December, Mr. SHdell wrote to the Gov- 
ernment al Washington, detailing the progress of the nego- 
tiation thus far. It will be observed, that up to this date 
he had neither been received, nor refused, and in this very 
letter he remarks that *' the impression hero among the 
best informed persons is, that the President and his Cabi- 
net are really desirous to enter frankly upon a negotiation 
which would terminate all their difficulties with the United 
States." The daij after this letter was received at Wash- 
ington, peremptory orders were sent to General Taylor to 
march to the Rio Grande ; and this order, necessarily cal- 
culated and obviously intended to bring on a war, has 
been vindicated on the ground, that the Mexican Govern- 
ment had refused to treat with Mr. Slidell ! 

It was obvious, from what had passed, that the Mexican 
administration, although pacific in its feelings, was not 
strong in the confidence of the public, and it was naturally 
inferred, that it would not have the power, even should 
it have the disposition, to conclude a treaty for the dis- 
memberment of the Republic by the cession of CaHfornia. 
Hence the determination of Mr. Polk to secure by the sword 
what he now saw could not likely be acquired by the 
pen. This determination was moreover strengthened by 
the following information communicated in the same letter 
from Mr. Slidell. " The countr}^, torn by conflicting fac- 
tions, is in a state of perfect anarchy, its finances in a 
condition utterly desperate. I do not see where means 



116 WWIEW OF THE MEXICAN WAR. 

can possibly be found to carry on the governnient. The 
annual expense of the army alone exceeds twenty-one 
millions of dollars, while the net revenue is not more than 
ten or twelve. While there is a prospect of war with the 
United States, no capitalist will loan money, at any rate, 
however onerous. Every branch of the revenue is already 
pledged in advance. The troops must be paid, or they 
will revolt." Of course from such a government, it would 
be easy to wrest Califoraia, and as much more as we 
might want. 

Mr. Slidell, having, as we have seen, refused to permit 
the Mexican Cabinet to postpone their decision respecting 
his reception, till the meeting of Congress in January, 
that decision was communicated, to him on the 20th 
December. He would be received as a Commissioner to 
treat of the questions relating to Texas ; but until that 
question was arranged, he could not be received as Minis- 
ter plenipotentiary. 

Mr. Slidell was of course very insulting in his reply. 
** The annals of no civilized nation present, in so short a 
time, so many ivanton attacks upon the rights of person and 
property as have been endured hy the citizens of the United 
States from the Mexican authorities.'^ It is to be appre- 
hended that this gentleman is either very imperfectly ac- 
quainted with the annals of civilized nations, or very unscru- 
pulous in drawing inferences from them. In the excitement 
of the moment, and for the sole purpose of irritation, he 
paraded before the Mexican Secretary, the millions de- 
manded by the American government as compensation 
for " the accumulated wa'ongs" of its " much-injured citi- 
zens." The indebtedness of Mexico, according to Mr. 
Slidell was as follows, viz. : 



REVIEW OF THE MEXICAN WAR. 117 

The award under the treaty of 183D, $2,026,139 
Claims theu left unsettled, 4,235,464 

Claims subsequently presented, 2,200,000 



8,491,603 
Credit by payments made on the award,* 303,919 



Balance, .1^8,187,684 

We have heretofore seen that the total amount of claims 

presented to the board of arbitrators, was $11, 850, 5*78 

The claims afterwards fabricated were, it seems, 2,200,000 



Total claim from Mexico, $14,050,578 

It may here be edifying to the reader, to interrupt our 
narrative for a moment, to advise him of the fate of these 
modest demands, under the especial guardianship of the 
Cabinet of Washington. The Commissioners and umpire 
appointed by treaty, after a judicial investigation, rejected 
as spnrious, or fraudulent, claims to the amount of 
$5,568,975. The unliquidated claims, after deducting the 
award made under the treaty, amounted to $6,455,464. 
Of these, by the treaty of peace, the American Govern- 
ment assumes and promises to pay such as may be found 
valid by its own Commissioners, not exceeding, however^ 
in amount $3,250,000. This sum deducted from the 
balance above, leaves no less than $3,205,464, absolutely 
and irrevocably abandoned and repudiated by the Federal 
Government, while the Government of Mexico is by treaty 

* It will be recollected that a convention concluded by Mr. 
Thompson, the interest on the whole award was to be paid on 
the 30th April, 1848, and the principal in twenty instalments,' 
one every three months. The Interest was punctually paid, as 
were the three first instalments. The money for these payments 
was raised hj forced loans, so anxious was the Mexican govern- 
ment to meet its engagements, notwithstanding its financial 
embarrassments. The measures adopted by our own govern- 
ment in reference to the annexation of Texas, together with the 
state of the Mexican treasury, delayed, and finally prevented the 
other payments. 



118 REVIEW OF THE MEXICAN WAR. 

stipulation released from all obligation to pay them ! The 
sum thus abandoned, added 'to the sum rejected by the 
arbitrators and umpire, makes the very respectable amount 
of $8,774,439. But this amount is yet to be greatly en- 
larged. The unHquidated claims are those preferred at 
the eleventh hour, when the government was striving to ex- 
aggerate the sufferings of our citizens, for the purpose of 
bullying Mexico out of territory, and when it was hoped that 
the greater the amount of claims, the more ready would 
the nation be for war. The best claims were undoubtedly 
those first presented. We here find that of those which 
weYGf investigated Jioe-seventks were found spurious. On 
the very unreasonable supposition that the remaining 
claims are not more worthless than the first, less than two 
millions will remain to be paid for by the government. In 
all human probability, one million will be more than suffi- 
cient to meet every equitable demand ; and thus of the 
1 4 millions of claims about 1 1 will have proved in the 
end to be fictitious. Of this base currency Mr. Slidell, as 
we have seen, took 6 millions with him to Mexico. The use 
he was to make of it, is thus specified in his instructions : 
" Fortunately the joint resolution of Congress for an- 
nexing Texas to the United States, presents the means of 
satisfying these claims, in perfect consistency with the in- 
terests as well as the honor of both republics. It has 
reserved to this government the adjustment of all ques- 
tions of boundary that may arise with other governments. 
This question of boundary may therefore be adjusted in 
such a manner between the two republics as to cast the 
burden of debt due to American claimants on their own 
(rovernment, while it will do no injury to Mexico."* 

* The instructions to Mr. Slidell were called for by the House 
of Representatives ; but the President refused to comm^^nicate 
them. A copy, however, was surreptitiously obtained, and was 
published in the newspapers : its authenticity has never been 
questioned. 



REVIEW OF THE MEXICAN WAR. 119 

In other words, Mr. Slidell is to buy territory, and 
these fraudulent claims are to form part of the considera- 
tion. He is authorized to offer the claims and $5,000,000 
for New Mexico, and the claims and $25,000,000 for both 
New Mexico and California. Thus we see the envoy was 
sent on a land-jobbing mission, armed with claims to the 
amount of eight raiUions to bully, and with twenty-five mil- 
Hons of dollars to bribe, the Mexicans to dismember their 
republic. 

Mr. Polk was determined to have Mexican territory, 
peaceably if he could — forcibly if he must. If he could 
not buy, he intended to conquer. Hence, the momeitt the 
Cabinet learned from SUdell's letter, that he had not been 
immediately received, although the question of reception 
was still undecided, the army was ordered to the Rio 
Grande. A few days after the decision was made known 
to Slidell, the Mexican administration was changed, and 
Paredes, the head of the belligerent party assumed the 
reins of government. On this change becoming known at 
Washington, Slidell was ordered to present his credentials 
to the new Cabinet, and demand his recognition ; and this 
very order was avowedly given to facihtate war. ** On 
your return to the United States, energetic measures 
against Mexico would at once be recommended by the 
President, and these might fail to obtain the support of 
Congress, if it could be asserted that the existing Govern- 
ment had not refused to receive our Minister."* The 
demand was accordingly made, and, as was foreseen, re- 
fused, and Mr. SHdell came home. 

It was, it seems, the intention of Mr. Polk, on this last 
refusal, to invoke Congress to declare war (take " ener- 
getic measures ") on the ground that Mexico by refusing 

* For the Slidell Correspondence, see Senate Documents, 29th 
Cong., 1 Sess. 



120 REVIEW OF THE MEXICAN WAR. 

to receive his Minister Plenipotentiary, compelled us to 
seek payment of our claims by the sword. On further re- 
flection, this design was abandoned. A recommendation to 
commence the work of human butchery /or such a cause, 
" might fail to obtain the support of Congress." It 
was thought more expedient first to provoke hostiUties, 
and then to call on Congress to raise armies to defend 
the country. Hence, although Congress was in Session 
when the President received intelligence of Mr. Slidell's 
final rejection, he did not "recommend energetic mea- 
sures against Mexico," as Mr. Buchanan said he would. 
A coiirbe had been taken which left but httle to the dis- 
cretion of the Legislature. Before we proceed to describe 
that course, it will be necessary to examine the claim on 
which it was founded, viz., that the Rio Grande was the 
western boundaiy of the United States. 



REVIEW OF THE MEXICAN WAR. 121 



CHAPTER XIX. 

WESTERN BOUNDARY OF TEXAS. 

Whatever may have been the original limits of the 
region which ancient discoverers and geographers named 
Texas, the boundaries of the revolted Mexican province of 
that name, are no more necessarily identical with tfiose 
limits, than are the boundaries of the State of Louisiana 
with the limits once assigned to the vast territory bearing 
the same name. The State of Texas was carved by 
Mexico out of her domains, and, in union with Coahuila, 
was entitled to a common legislature, and a representation 
in the Mexican Congress. In 1833, Texas, as already 
mentioned, dissolved her union with Coahuila, but laid no 
claim whatever to any portion of the territory of her late 
associate. The limits of the State of -Texas were well 
known, and defined on maps. Its boundary commenced 
at the mouth of the river IlTueces, in Corpus Christi bay ; 
and followed that river to its source, thence to the hne of 
New Mexico, near the Gaudaloupe mountains, thence 
easterly to the southern branch of the Colorado, and along 
that branch to the main stream, and with that to and 
along the boundary line of the United States to the Gulf 
of Mexico. The country between the Nueces and Rio 
Grande was embraced in Coahuila and the Northern dis- 
trict of Tamauhpas. A map of Texas, published in 1831, 
gives the Nueces as its southern Hmit ; and in a descrip- 
tion of Texas, published in the same year, by a visitant, it 
11 



122 REVIEW OF THE MEXICAN WAR. 

is said that the province is bounded by " the Nueces, 
which divides it from Tamaui^pas and Coahuila." 

In 1833, Benjamin Lundy travelled extensively in Texas 
and Mexico ; and his diary, published since his death, con- 
tains entries which show most conclusively what was then 
considered by the Texans as the southern or south- 
Avestern boundary: — "1833, October 11th. We pro- 
ceeded this morning over some delightful plains, on a good 
level road. At half-past nine, we reached and crossed 
the river Nueces, which is the western Hmit of what is 
(tailed Texas. Of course we are now in Coahuila " 

"February 1, 1833. Laredo is a poor-looking place. 
Tt contains about 2200 inhabitants. The people look 
like mulattoes. They are friendly and clever, but not one 
of them can speak English. Laredo is the first settlement 
that I have seen in Tamauhpas." Life of Benjamin 
Lundy, pp. 57, 95. 

In 1836, as we have seen. President Jackson laid before 
Congress the report of his special agent, Mr. MofBt, who 
was sent to Texas to acquire information for the Govern- 
ment. The agent reported that " the pohtical limits of 
Texas proper (that is, the Mexican State of Texas), 
before the last revolution, were the Nueces river on the 
West'' &c. 

In 1837, was published a map of Texas, " compiled by 
Stephen F. Austin, from surveys by General Teran of the 
Mexican Army ;" and here again we have the Nueces 
for its western boundary. So late as June 28th, 1845, Mr. 
Donaldson, American Charge d' Affaires to Texas, declared, 
in an official letter, that Corpus Christi "is the most western 
point now occupied by Texas." The Mexican Government 
always insisted, that the territory on the Rio Grande, had 
never belonged to Texas. The Mexican commissioners ap- 
pointed to treat of peace, were, by instructions, authorised 



REVIEW OF THE MEXICAN WAR. 123 

to acknowledge the independence of Texas ; but, to avoid 
mistake, it was added, " by Texas is understood the territory 
known by that name after the treaties of 1819, when it 
formed part of the State of Coahuila and Texas, and not by 
any means the territory between the Nueces and the Bravo, 
which the Congress of the pretended Texans claimed to 
belong to it." " On the 18th March, 1846, Gen. Mejia, the 
commandant at Metamoras, in a proclamation announcing 
Taylor's invasion, to prove that the Americans intended to 
seize territory not included in Texas, remarked, " the 
limits of Texas are certain and recognised ; tiever have 
they extended beyond the river Nueces." 

It is, therefore, beyond all doubt, that no point of the 
Mexican State of Texas came in contact with the Rio 
Grande. In what manner, then, had the BepuhUc 
of Texas acquired the immense extent of territory 
she claimed ? As it came neither by purchase, nor by 
treaty ; the title, if any, must have been conferred 
by the sword. On the 2d March, 1836, the Mexican 
State of Texas, bounded, as we have seen, by the Nueces, 
declared its independence. This declaration, while it 
changed the political relations of Texas, had no effect on 
its territory. On the 21st April of the same year, the 
victory of San Jacinto secured the separation of Texas 
from Mexico ; but it was a victory obtained over Mexican 
troops in the heart of Texas, not a conquest of Mexican 
territory. It was a victory, hoAvever, which emboldened 
the Texans to claim for the purpose of occupying at 
pleasure, whatever land they thought might be convenient. 
We find from the official report of General Jackson's 
agent, laid before Congress by the President, that almost 
on the battle-field, '* immediately after the battle of San 
Jacinto," it was the intention of the Texan Government 
*' to have claimed from the Rio Grande, along the river to 



124 REVIEW OF THE MEXICAN WAR. 

the SOth degree of latitude, and then West to the 
Pacific" ! ! It was, however, on reflection, thought this 
was more than was necessary; and so, on the 16th De- 
cemher of the same year, the Texan Legislature voted 
themselves parts of New Mexico, Coahuilai, and Tamau- 
lipas, about equal in extent lo the whole of Texas itself. 
This additional territory is bounded by the Rio Grande, 
and hence, and in virtue of this act of the 16th Decem- 
ber, 1836, when the Texan Government did not own or 
possess jurisdiction over one inch of land on the Rio 
Grande, Mr, Polk ordered General Taylor, 15th June, 
1845, to hold himself in readiness to march his troops into 
Texas, where " you will select and occupy, on or near the 
Rio Grande del Norte, such a site as will consist with the 
health of the troops, and will be best adapted to repel 
invasion, and to protect what, in the event of annexation, 

will be OUR WESTERN FRONTIER." 

The act of the Texan Legislature, of course, no more 
deprived Mexico of her right to Santa Fe, than it could 
have deprived us of our right to Oregon. Mr. Polk, in 
claiming thus early the Rio Grande as the western boun- 
dary of the United States, and ordering a military force 
to take possession of it, acted in his capacity of chief 
magistrate, and either with or without authority. As the 
claim he advanced to this boundary, and his measures to 
enforce that claim, led to hostilities, it is important 
to inquire how far this gentleman was authorised by the 
laws of his country, to involve it in the calamity of war. 

It was only in the event of annexation, that Mr. Polk 
claimed the Rio Grande as the western boundary of the 
United States. Hence it becomes important to ascertain, 
if the act of annexation did indeed transfer to the United 
States the territories voted to itself by the Republic of 
Texas. The Tyler treaty of annexation was silent as to 



REVIEW OF THE MEXICAN WAR, 125 

boundaries ; and wliy ? Let Mr. Calhoun, who negotiated 
it, answer. No sooner was the treaty signed, than the 
Secretary officially informed the Mexican Government, 
that the United States had " taken every precaution to 
make the terms of the treaty as httle objectionable to 
• Mexico as possible ; and, among others, has left the boun- 
dary of Texas without specification, so that ivhat the line 
of boundary should be might be an open question, to be 
fairly and fully discussed and settled according to the 
rights oi each." 

Notwithstanding this letter, it was objected to the 
treaty in the Senate, that the very absence of all specifi- 
cation of boundary might be regarded as an implied sanc- 
tion of the ridiculous pretensions of Texas. Mr. Benton 
who, as we have seen, was one of the earliest advocates 
of annexation, indignantly rejected the idea, that Texas 
could confer upon the United States title to territory she 
never owned. In his speech against the ratification of 
the treaty, he used the following language : " I wash my 
hands of all attempts to dismember the Mexican Repub- 
lic by seizing her dominions in New Mexico, Chihuahua, 
Coahuila, and Tamaulipas. The treaty, in all that relates 
to the boundary of the Rio Grande, is an act of unpa- 
ralleled outrage on Mexico. It is the seizure of two thou- 
sand miles of her territory, without a word of explanation 
with her, by virtue of a treaty with Texas to which she 
is no party. By this declaration, the thirty thousand 
Mexicans in the left half of the valley of the Rio del 
Norte are our citizens, and standing, in the language of 
the President's Message, in a hostile attitude towards us, 
and subject to be repelled as invaders. Taos, the seat of 
the Custom-house, where our caravans enter their goods, 
is ours ; Santa Fe the capital of New Mexico is ours — 
Governor Armijo is our Governor, and subject to be tried 
11* 



126 REVIEW OF THE MEXICAN WAR. 

for treason, if he does not submit to us ; twenty Mexican 
towns and villages,* are ours, and their peaceful inhabi- 
tants cultivating their fields and tending their flocks, are 
suddenly converted by a stroke of the President's pen 
into American citizens or American rebels. 

" I therefore propose, as an additional resolution, ap- 
pUcable to the Rio del Norte boundary only, the one 
which I will read, and send to the Secretary's table, and 
one on which I shall at the proper time ask the ^'Ote of 
the Senate. This is the resolution : 

** Resolved, that the incorporation of the left bank of 
the Rio del Norte into the American Union, by virtue of 
a treaty with Texas, comprehending, as the said incorpor- 
ation would do, a part of the Mexican departments of 
New Mexico, Chihuahua, Coahuila, and Tamaulipas, would 
be an act of aggression on Mexico, for all the consequences 
of which the United States would stand responsible." 

There can be no doubt the resolution would ha\-e passed, 
had not the rejection of the treaty prevented a vote 
being taken. Mr. Silas Wright, a distinguished democratic 
Senator from New York, afterwards vindicating his vote 
against the treaty, asserted, " I believed that the treaty, 
from the boundaries that must he imjMed from it, if 
Mexico would not treat with us, embraced a country to 
which Texas had no claim, over which she had never as- 
serted jurisdiction, and which she had no right to cede." 

* The following are some of the Mexican towns and settle- 
ments along the e ist border of the Rio Grande, which according 
to Mr, Pulk, are on our side " the boundary line of the United 
States," but in which, at the time of the invasion, was not to be 
found one single magistrate holding a commission either from 
the Federal (government, or the State of Texas — viz Taos, 
Peuris, Grampa, Embudo, Namba, San Juan, Yitior, San Domin- 
go, San Branilla, San Aux, San Dios, Albuquerque, San Fer- 
nanda, Valencia, Fonclara, Las Nutrias, Alamillo,San Pasqual, 
Christobal, Las Pepuallas, Presidio, Dolores, Loredo, and Point 
Isabel. 



REVIEW OF THE MEXICAN WAR. 127 

It thus appears that, in 1844, Messrs. Tyler and Calhoun 
admitted the boundary of the Rio Grande to be an open 
question ; while Messrs. Wright and Benton, and probably 
a. great majority of the Senate, disclaimed and repudiated 
all rio'ht whatever to what Mr. Polk terms *' our western 
frontier." 

On the 3rd March, 1845, Congress passed an act al- 
lowing drawback on goods exported to "Santa F6 in 
Mexico^ But according to the Texan Act of 16th De- 
cember, 1836, Santa Fe was in the Republic of Texas, 
Here, then, we have, on the part of the Congress of the 
United States, a distinct repudiation of the paper bound- 
aries set up by the victors at San Jacinto. We had, 
moreover, a Consul at Santa Fe, recognized not by the 
Texan but the Mexican Government. Yet it was after 
this act was passed, and before we had acquired a title to 
a foot of Texan land, that Mr. Polk took measures to 
seize by force of arms the territory on the Rio Grande, in 
case of annexation. 

Falsehood is ever inconsistent with itself. Mr. Polk, in 
his Message, 8th December, 1846, speaking of the actual 
separation of Texas from Mexico previous to annexation, 
uses the expression, " No hostile foot finding rest within 
her territory for six or seven years." Yet all this time, 
Mexican villages east of the Rio Grande were governed 
by Mexican laws and magistrates, and the Secretary- at- 
War, in ordeiing General Taylor to advance to that river, 
warns him of the Mexican militorij establishments on this 
side of it. If no hostile foot had found rest in Texan ter- 
ritory for six or seven years, then most certainly the Rio 
Grande territory was not in Texas. Mr. Polk, moreover, 
tells Cono^ress that, in December, 1836, a Texan law de- 
clared " the Rio Grande from its mouth to its source to 
be their boundary, and by the said act they extended 



128 REVIEW OF THE MEXICAN WAR. 

their civil and political jurisdiction over the country up to 
that boundary ;" and yet in this very same Message he 
announces to Congress that, '" by rapid movements the 
province of New Mexico, with Santa Fe, its capital, has 
been captured without bloodshed." But Santa F6 was on 
the East of the Rio Grande, and far below its source, and 
therefore, according to the President, included within the 
Territory of Texas. And why was it captured if no hos- 
tile foot rested in it ? 

Let us now inquire with what boundaries we received 
Texas. The terras of the joint resolutions were, " Con- 
gress doth consent that the territory properly included 
tvithin and rightfulhj belonging to the Republic of Texas, 
may be erected into a new State to be called the State of 
Texas, &;c. ; " said State to be formed, subject to the ad- 
justment by this Government of all questions of boundaries 
that may arise with other governments.''^ Here is no sanc- 
tion of the act of 16th December, 1836, no claim of title 
founded on it, but an indirect admission that Texas has 
made unfounded claims, and we mean to take not what 
she claims, but what she rightfully owns; and this we 
will settle with Mexico of course by treaty, the President 
and Senate being ''this Government'' mentioned in the 
resolution. The resolutions embracinof this lanmiao-e were 
officially Gp2')roved of by Mr. Polk, immediately on his 
accession to the Presidency ; and yet, notwithstanding 
they thus rejected all title to territory founded on Texan 
claims, reserving to the President and Senate the decision 
of what should be '' our Western frontier," Mr. Polk re- 
solved not merely to decide that question of his own will 
and pleasure, but to maintain his decision at the point of 
the bayonet, without any consultation with the Senate, 
and without waiting to discuss it with Mexico. For many 
years a question existed between Great Britain and the 



REVIEW OF THE MEXiCAN WAR. 129 

United States, respecting the North-eastern boundary of 
the latter. No President assumed the responsibility of 
plunging tlie country into war by taking military posses- 
sion of the disputed ten-itory, and the question was finally 
settled by treaty. Mr. Polk, on his accession to the 
Presidency, found another and most important question of 
boundary pending between the same parties respecting 
the territory of Oi-egon. He expressed, in his inaugural 
address, the opinion, that the title of the United States to 
the whole of that vast region up to 54° 40' of North 
latitude, was clear and unquestionable ; and he refused 
all offers of compromise, and all reference of the question 
to arbitration. Yet he sent no army to defend what he 
declared to be our Northern frontier. On the contraiT, 
he entered into negotiation with Great Britain, and sur- 
rendered five degrees and forty minutes of territory, which 
he had himself asserted belonged to us " by irrefragable 
facts and arguments," by a treaty which General Cass 
declared in the Senate was " prepared by the British 
Government," and which was ratified by the Senate with- 
out " the crossing of a t, or the dotting of an /, untouched 
and unchanged." Great Britain was a powerful nation, 
and Mexico a feeble one ; the territory surrendered wa,s 
in the North, and would for ever be free — that which was 
seized was in the South, and was intended to be for ever 
a slave region. 



130 REVIEW OF THE MEXICAN WAR. 



CHAPTER XX. 

COMMENCEMENT OF WAR AGAINST MEXICO BY GENERAL 
TAYLOR. 

Mr. Polk, having decided on war, in case California could 
not be had by negotiation, commenced his preparations for 
waging it, even before the annexation with Texas was con- 
summated. On the 8th July, 1845, the Secretary of War 
wrote to Taylor, " This department is informed, that 
Mexico has some military establishments on the east side 
of the Rio Grande, which are, and for some time past 
have been, in the actual occupation of her troops. In 
carrying out the instructions heretofore received, you will 
be careful to avoid any acts of aggression, unless a state 
of war should exist. The Mexican forces at the posts in 
their possession, and which have been so, will not be dis- 
turbed so long as the relations of peace between the Uni- 
ted States and Mexico continue." An invading army is 
sent into a territory in mihtary possession of Mexico ; ter- 
ritory which had never been out of her possession since its 
conquest from the aborigines. But no attack is to be 
made on the Mexican forts ; let the first blow be struck 
by the Mexicans, and then the war will bo one of defence, 
and therefore more popular. On the 6 th August, Taylor 
is informed that the seventh regiment of infantry and three 
companies of dragoons have been ordered to Texas, and 
10,000 muskets, and 1,000 rifles. A few days after he is 
told, he will have '' a force of four thousand men of t)\e 
regular 2i\-my '^ In addition to these regulars, requisitions 
were made upon the Governors of Alabama, Mississippi, 



REVIEW OF THE MEXICAN WAR. 131 

Louisiana, Tennessee, and Kentucky, to furnish Taylor 
with as many volunteers as he might require. The Sec- 
retary of War, in thus calling for an indefinite number of 
troops, makes the following candid and extraordinary con- 
fession : " It is proper to observe, that the emergency ren- 
dering such assistance from the militia of your State neces- 
sary, does not appear to have been foreseen by Congress, 
and consequently no appropriation was made for paying 
them." Truly indeed Congress had not foreseen that Mr. 
Polk meant to invade Mexico, and" had made no provision 
for the intended war. 

The President having thus made, on his own responsi- 
bility, ample provision for the commencement of the war, in- 
structed Taylor how he might bring it on in case Mexico re- 
mained passive. On the 30th August, he was told, " The 
assembling a large Mexican army on the borders of Texas, 
and crossing the Rio Grande with a considerable force, will 
be regarded by the Executive as an invasion of the United 
States {/) and the commencement of hostilities. An at- 
tempt to cross the river with such a force will also be con- 
sidered in the same lisrht. In case of war, either declared 
or made manifest by hostile acts, your main object will be 
the protection of Texas ; but the pursuit of this object will 
not necessarily confine your action within the territory of 
Texas. Mexico having thus commenced hostilities, you 
may in your discretion cross the Rio Grande, disperse or 
capture the forces assembled to invade Texas, defeat the 
junction of troops uniting for that purpose, drive them 
from their positions on either side of the river, and, if 
deemed practicable and expedient, take and hold posses- 
sion of Metamoras and other places in the country." 

Thus we find the President in time of peace, and without 
the knowledge or expectation of Congress, ordering the 
invasion of a territory in the actual and exclusive posses- 



132 REVIEW OF THE MEXICAN WAR. 

sion of Mexico, a territory having Mexican villages under 
the authority of Mexican magistrates, a port of entry, 
a custom-house, and various " military establishments." 
Should the Mexicans, prompted by the natural dictates 
of patriotism and self-defence, assemble a body of troops 
which in General Taylor's discretion might be deemed 
"large," and attempt to cross the river to reinforce their 
mihtary estabhshments, to protect their villages, to secure 
the collection of their customs, to watch the motions of the 
invading army, then General Taylor is to regard their 
conduct as an invasion of the United States, and is 
to begin a war of defence, although not a Mexican shot 
has been fired, and is to capture the city of Metamoras, 
and to carry the war into the interior of Mexico.* 

So confident was Mr. Polk of the success of his plan, 
that, as we have seen, the Governors of no less than five 
States were ordered to supply Taylor with an unlimited 
number of troops to commence the intended campaign 
with eclat. 

The pretended apology for this most unwarrantable as- 
sumption of power in thus plunging the country into an 
imexpected, unprovoked, and unnecessaiy war, was that 
Texas was in danger. None were more sensible than the 
administration of the utter inability of Mexico to wage an 
offensive war against the United States. Since the com- 
mencement of the Texan rebellion, the Mexican Govern- 
ment had been utterinPT inflated threats against its revolted 
province, yet no hostile force had entered it since the di- 

* The folio-wing frora the Unwn of the 11th Sept., 1845, the 
official paper of the Administration, shows how well the editor 
understood the designs of his employers, " If Arista (the Mexican 
General at Metamoras), dares to carry out his braggart threats, 
if he ventures to cross the Rio Grande V)lth reinfmrements to any 
liWe armed posU, which the Mexicans may occupy on the east 
side of the river, General Taylor will attempt to prevent him — 
blood must flow — war will ensfe." 



REVIEW OF THE MEXICAN WAR. 133 

sastrous conflict at San Jacinto. A vast desert extended 
between the Nueces and the Rio Grande ; and in the dis- 
trict alonf^- the east of that river not one Texan dwelHnor 
vt^as to be found. The population of the country invaded 
by Taylor, was exclusively Mexican. There was no hu- 
man probability that Mexico, feeble, disorganized, and 
distracted as she was, would dare to invade Texas, now 
protected by the whole power of the American con- 
federacy, when nine years before a handful of adventurers 
had destroyed her army, and taken captive her President. 
The pretence was no less absurd than false ; and, had 
danger been indeed apprehended, there was no necessity 
to send an army 200 miles in advance of the T^xan set- 
tlements, when no hostile movements of the Mexicans in- 
dicated an intention to cross the intervening desert, and 
enter Texas. The falsity of the pretence is evinced by a 
remarkable confession made by the government so late as 
16th Oct., 1845. The Secretary of War, writing to Tay- 
lor, says, " The information we have, renders it probable 
that no serious attempts will at present be made by 
Mexico to invade Texas, although she continues to 
threaten incursions."* General Taylor, instead of pro- 
ceeding immediately to the Rio Grande agreeably to his 
instructions, stopped at Corpus Christi at the mouth of the 
Nueces, the extreme point of Texas proper, and Oct. 4th, 
1845, wrote to the Secretary, ''Mexico having as yet 
made no positive declaration of war, or committed any 
overt act of hostihties, I do not feel at Hberty under my 
instructions, particularly those of July 8th, to make a for- 
ward movement to the Rio Grande without authority from 
the war department." He alluded to his instructions to 
take a position on the Rio Grande to repel invasion, but 

* For correspondence, &c., with Taylor, see Senate Doc, 
29th Cong., Ut Sess. 

13 



134 revTew of the Mexican war. 

to avoid acts of aggression unless an actual state of war 
existed. As there was no invasion to repel, and as his 
march into the Mexican territory in time of peace would 
be an act of aggression, he prudently waited for further 
orders. 

Under these circumstances, and considering that all was 
now ready for commencing hostilities, the administration 
deemed it on the whole most prudent to wait the result 
of the proposed negotiation to be opened at Mexico, mea- 
sures for that purpose having already been taken. If our 
claims could be bartered for California, it would not be 
necessary to compel Tajlor to march to the Rio Grande. 
We have seen that the order to Taylor to invade the terri- 
tory of the Rio Grande, the requisitions upon five States 
for troops, and the instructions to Taylor how and on what 
pretences to commence the war, and to capture Metamo- 
ras, (fee, were all previous to the appointment of Slidell; 
and therefore, that the actual march to the Rio Grande 
and the war that ensued, were only the resumption of a 
policy that had merely been suspended to allow time to 
ascertain whether California could possibly be obtained by 
negotiation. The suspension, however, was brief. We 
have already noticed the avowal of Mr. Buchanan, Secre- 
tary of State, that in case of the refusal of Mexico to re- 
ceive Mr. Slidell, " nothing can remain but to take the 
redress of the injuries of our citizens, and the insults to 
to our Government, into our own hands," in other words, 
to go to war. On the 12th January, 1846, the first 
dispatch was received from Slidell, from which it ap- 
peared probable that, although the Government had not 
yet refused to receive him, it would enter into no negoti- 
ation with him, except in reference to Texas. Of course 
there was no hope of a cession of California ; and the xqyj 
yiext day peremptory orders were sent to Taylor to ad- 



RKVIEW OF THE MF.XICAX WAR. 135 

vance to the Rio Grande ; an order unquestionably dic- 
tated by the avowed determination we have mentioned. 

It seems, therefore, that the Govei-nment resolved on 
war professedhj for two causes; 1st, The injuries to our 
citizens, all of which were estimated in dollars and cents. 
To collect a few millions of alleged debts, it acknowledges 
it willingness to commence the work of human slaughter, 
and that, too, at the very moment when no less than six 
States of the Union were indebted in the prodigious 
amount of 152,000,000, of which they paid neither prin- 
cipal or interest. The veiy idea of collecting two or three 
millions of dollars by spending a hundred or more in mur- 
dering the debtors, is so utterly absurd and diabolical, 
that we must be excused from beheving Mr. Buchanan 
when he pretends that such was the intention of the Cabi- 
net. The second cause assigned is little less credible. 
The insults to our Goverament which were to be revenged 
by killing Mexicans, are the imputations of bad faith cast 
by their rulers upon the Government at Washington for 
its conduct towards Texas ; imputations which, however 
disagreeable, were unhappily supported by facts, and 
which had already been most abundantly repaid with in- 
sult and injury. The acquisition of California, and the 
extension of slavery, afforded motives for war which the 
pretended causes assigned by Mr. Buchanan failed to 
supply. 

It was not sufficient that Taylor should march to the 
Rio Grande ; the Secretary tells him, " points opposite 
Metamoras and Mier, and the vicinity of Laredo, are sug- 
gested for your consideration." The object was to pro- 
voke a collision, and, if possible, induce the Mexicans to 
attack our forces ; and hence the American standard was 
to be insultingly displayed in the immediate vicinity and 
in full vitjw of these Mexican towns. It would be hard 



136 REVIEW OF THE MEXICAN WAR. 

indeed if our troojDS, stationed in the suburbs of these 
three places, did not bring on a quan-el, and thus enable 
Mr. Polk to announce to Congress that " War existed by 
the act of Mexico." 

General Taylor, in pursuance of orders, commenced his 
march into the ^lexican territory. Not an American, not 
a Texan was *to be found South of Corpus Christi. After 
proceeding through the desert about one hundred miles, 
he met " small armed parties of Mexicans who seemed 
disposed to avoid us." 

On approaching Point Isabel, a Mexican settlement, and 
the site of a Mexican Custom House, he found the build- 
ings in flames. At the same time he received a protest 
from the " Prefect of the Northern District of Tamaulipas'' 
against his invasion of a territory " which had never he- 
longed to the Colony seized wpon' (Texas), an invasion of 
which no notice had been given to the Government- of 
Mexico, and for which no reason had been assigned. The 
protest concluded with assuring Taylor that, so long as 
his army '' shall remain in the terrritory of Tamaulipas, 
the inhabitants must, whatever professions of peace you 
may employ, regard you as openly committing hostilities, 
and for the melancholy consequences of these they who 
have been the invaders must be answerable in the view 
of the whole world." The inhabitants of Point Isabel 
fled before the invaders, and sought refuge in Metamoras. 
Taylor announced to his Government, that he considered 
the conflagration of Point Isabel "■ as a decided evidence of 
hostility y To understand the purport of this declaration 
of opinion, it must be recollected that in his orders of the 
13th January, 1846, he was instructed that, should Mexi- 
co assume the character of an enemy " by a declaration 
of war, or any open act of hostility towards us, you will 
not act merely on the defermve^ 



REVIEW OF THE MEXICAN WAR, 137 

On the 28th March, Taylor, without having met with 
the slightest opposition, planted his standard on the bank 
of the Rio Grande. On the 6th April he wrote home 
that the guns of his battery " hear directly upon the pub- 
lic square of Meiamoras, and within good range for demo- 
lishing the town ; their object cannot be mistaken by the 
enemy ;" and he tells the Secretary of War, " the Mexi- 
cans still retain a hostile attitude, and have thrown up 
some works to prevent us from crossing the river."* No 
declaration of war had been issued on either side, and the 

* During the progress of this iTiv<asion, and while the army 
■was before Metamoras, various letters from the officers found 
their way into tlie public journals. A few extracts from these 
will be found instructiA'c. " West of the Xueces the people are 
all Spaniards. The country is uninhabitable excepting the 
valley of the R.io Grande, and that contains a pretty dense popu- 
lation, and in no part of the country are the people more loyal 
to the Mexican Government." 

" Ca77ip opposite Me/amoras, Ap'ilAD/h, 1846. Our situation here 
is an extraordinary one. Right in the enemy's country, and actu- 
ally occuj^ying their corn and cotton fields, the people of the 
soil leaving their homes, and we with a small handful of men 
marching, with colors flying, and drumrf beating, right under 
the very guns of one of their principal cities, displaying the star- 
spangled banner as if in defiance under their very nose, and 
tlaey with an army twice our size at least, sit quietlj^ down, and 
make not the least resistance, not the least effort to drive the 
invaders off. There is no parallel to it." Capt. Henry, the 
writer of this letter, seems not to have been aware that he was 
in the United States, and that the people of the soil were his fel- 
low-citizens. 

Another ofiScer writes, 21st April, " Our flag waves over the 
waters of the Rio Grande, and we have a battery of eighteen- 
pounders that can spot anything in Metamoras." To under- 
stand this last operation, it must be recollected, that the city 
was on one bank, and the American fort on the other. Cap- 
tain Henry, of the U. S. Army, in his " Campaign Sketches of 
the War in Mexico," says, that on the evening of the day the 
army reached the river opposite to Metamoras, " I walked down 
to the bank, and found it lined with citizens (on the other side"), 
attracted, no doubt, by the arrival of so many strangers. Strol- 
ling along, and seeing some genteel-looking young ladies upon the 
bank, I took off my hat, and saluted them with ' Buena Scnoritas.' 
The river at this point was 5^ nanow, that I cmdd have thrvicn a 
stone across it."' — p. G8. 

12* 



138 REVIEW OF THE MEXICAN WAR. 

Mexicans, although they saw their country invaded, and a 
battery planted within good range for demolishing the 
principal city in that part of 'their Republic, liad not fired 
a musket, yet General Taylor chooses to style them " the 
enemy'' and asserts that they retain a hostile attitude. 

Five days after our arms had thus threatened and in- 
sulted Metamoras, General Ampudia reached the city 
with reinforcements, and immediately addressed a letter 
to the American General, complaining that his advance to 
the Rio Grande had '' not only insulted but exasperated 
the Mexican nation," and requiring him within twenty- 
four hours to remove his camp, and retire beyond the 
Nueces ; adding, " If you insist on remaining upon the 
soil of the department of Tamaulipas, it will clearly result 
that arms, and arms alone, must decide the question." 
As Taylor had been sent to Tamaulipas expressly to pro- 
duce this very result, he took occasion of this letter to 
hasten the desired ciisis. The Mexicans had shown a for- 
bearance amounting almost to pusillanimity. Should this 
forbearance continue, and the enemy lemain on the other 
side of the river, how could the war be commenced ? He 
must wait for some pretext for crossing the river to attack 
them. The fact that the inhabitants of Point Isabel had 
fired their own houses, would hardly justify him in bom- 
barding Metamoras. He chose therefore to consider Am- 
pudia's notice to quit as an hostile act, but not one to be 
resented with powder and shot. He therefoie resorted 
to an expedient which would compel Ampudia to fire 
the first shot, and thus, according to tlie wislies of the 
Cabinet, to make the intended war, one of defence, " a 
war by the act of Mexico." There were two American 
armed vessels at Brazos Santiago, and these he ordered to 
blockade the mouth of the Rio Grande, thus cutting ofif all 
commuication with Metamoras by sea. Soon after a ves- 



REVIEW OF THE MEXICAN WAR. 139 

sel with a cargo of grain for the city, was prevented by 
the squadron from entering the river, and in consequence 
of the alarm excited by the blockade, flour rose, as stated 
in the papers, to forty dollars a barrel. Taylor, with a 
frankness bordering on indiscretion, thus avows his reason 
for ordering the blockade : " It will at any rate compel 
the Mexicans to withdraw their army from Metamoras 
where it cannot be sustained, or to assume the offensive on 
this side of the river. ^^'^ 

Yet in this very letter he reports that since his last 
of the 15th, "the relations between me and the Mexicans 
have not changed," that is, the Mexicans had not com- 
menced hostilities. Notwithstanding the blockade, the 
Mexicans did not attack Taylor; whereupon he deter- 
mined, it seems, not to remain any longer idle. Accord- 
ingly, the very day on which he informs the Secretary 
that the relations between himself and the Mexicans re- 
mained the same, and when not a single shot had been 
fired by the latter, he reports, *' with a view to check the 
deioredations of small par-ties of the enemy on this side of 
the river, Lieutenants Dobbins of the 3d Infantry, and 
Porter, 4th Infantry, were authorized by me a few days 
since to scour the country for some miles with a select 
party of men, and capture and destroy any such parties 
that they might meet. It appears they separated, and 
that Lieutenant Porter at the head of his own detachment 
surprised a Mexican camp, drove away the men, and took 
possession of their horses." In this affair. Porter and one 
man were killed — whether any, or how many Mexican 
lives were sacrificed, does not appear. 

Thus it seems, that notwithstanding all the contri- 
vances of the administration to compel the Mexicans to 
strike the frst blow, it was in fact given by ourselves. 

* Letter to Secretary of War, April 23, 1846. 



140 REVIEW OF THE MEXICAN WAR. 

The idea of small parties committing depredations, is a 
paltry apology for commencing a war. There were no 
Americans, no Texans, except the American army in the 
comitry, upon whom these small parties could commit 
depredations. What were the depredations complained 
of, and who were the sufferers, the General did not think 
proper to specify. But, moreover, the detachments were 
not authorized to arrest the depredators, but to captv.re 
and destroy any small parties they might meet, guilty or 
innocent. The General was instructed not to molest " the 
mihtary estabhshments" on this side of the river ; yet he 
resolves that any small parties fiom these establishments 
who might leave their barracks, were to be captured and 
destroyed. His next letter, 26th April, reports, " that a 
party of dragoons sent out by me on the 24th instant to 
watch the course of the river above on this bank, became 
engaged with a very lai-ge force of the enemy, and, after 
a short affair in which some sixteen were killed and 
wounded, appear to have been surrounded and compelled 
to surrender." The very peculiar phraseology used to 
express this battle, '' became engaged," was not perhaps 
accidental. Did the party of dragoons gallantly attack 
the very large force of the enemy, and were they in conse- 
quence of their rashness taken prisoners after losing six- 
teen in killed and wounded ? Or did the large party 
commence hostiUties by attacking the dragoons? To 
these very natural inquiries no response is found in the 
General's despatch. The particulars of the case were, 
however, disclosed in letters from the army, and published 
in the newspapers. It appears that Thornton the com- 
mander of the party, discovering a small body of Mexi- 
cans on the summit of a rising ground, "immediately 
charged up&n them ;" but the main body who were on the 
other side of the hill, and therefore unseen, coming up, 



REVIEW OF THE MEXICAN WAR. 141 

captured the assailants."* Another letter, published in the 
Philadelphia Inquirer, says, ** Captain Thornton, when 
about twenty-five miles above the array, discovered some 
Mexicans on a hill, when he immediately charged upon them. 
When he got to the top of the hill, he found himself in a 
trap. The Mexicans were on the opposite side of the hill 
in a field."! 

General Taylor, after mentioning the affair in the words 
we have given, announces to the Cabinet the attainment 
of the long desired result. " Hostilities may now be 
CONSIDERED AS COMMENCED." Upou the Strength of this 
despatch, the President announced to Congress and the 
world, " Mexico has passed the boundary of the 
United States, has invaded our territory and shed 
American blood upon the American soil. She has 
proclaimed that hostilities have commenced, and that the 
two nations are now at war.'' How far the unqualified 
assertions contained in the first sentence of the passage 
quoted, are in accordance with truth, those who have 
read the preceding pages are qualified to judge for them- 
selves. The following facts may tend to test the veracity 
of the last averment. 

General Arista arrived at Metamoras on the 24th April, 
and finding the supplies intended for the army cut off by 
the blockade of the river, the great square of the city 
commanded by Taylor's cannon, American parties scour- 
ing the country, breaking up Mexican camps, and seizing 
their horses, he gave notice that he considered, as well he 
might, hostilities commenced, and that he should prose- 

* See New Orleans Picayune, May 2d, 1846. 

t Nearly a year after the commencement of the war, Thorn- 
ton's official report of this affair was made public It differs 
in some particulars from the newspaper accounts, but the fact 
of the charge is admitted, though under the plea of self-defence. 
The charge was made before the Mexicans had fired a shot. 



142 REVIEW OF THE MEXICAN WAR. 

cute them. He thus plainly disa\'owed commendng the 
war. How far Arista's declaration, that he considered 
hostihties commenced by the Americans, justifies Mr. 
Polk's solemn asseveration tliat Mexico had " proclaimed 
that hostihties had commenced, and that the two nations 
are now at war," the reader will decide. Should the no- 
tice of the 24th April, fail to estabhsh the veracity of Mr. 
Polk's announcement to Congress, the friends of that gen- 
tleman call to his defence an order issued by the Presi- 
dent of Mexico on the 18th April, more than a month 
after Taylor had left Corpus Christi, and commenced his 
invasion of the Mexican territory ; *' From this day," says 
the order, " begins our defenswe war, and every point of 
our territory attacked or invaded shall be defended.'* As 
the invasion continued, a proclamation was issued by the 
Mexican President on the 24th April in which he says, 
" The flag of the stars waves on the left bank of the Rio 
Bravo del Norte, opposite to the city of Metamoras, after 
taking possession of the river with their ships of war. 
The town of Laredo was surprised by a party of their 
troops, and a picket of ours on the watch was disarmed. 
Hostilities then have been commenced hy the United States 
of America, in making new conquests upon our territories 
within the boundaries of Tamaulipas and New Leon. / 
have not the right to declare tvar. It is for the august 
Congress of the nation, as soon as they assemble, to take 
into consideration all the consequences of the conflict in 
which we are involved. But if, during this interval the 
United States should without notice, attack our sea coasts 
on the Texan frontier, then it will become necessary to 
repel force by force, and a beginning once made by the 
invaders, to make fall upon them the immense responsi- 
bility of disturbing the peace of the world." 

It will be observed that in no instance is the annexation 



REVIEW OF THE MEXICAN WAR. 143 

of Texas cited as an evidence of the existence of hos- 
tilities; but solely the invasion of the Rio Grande, and the 
acts of General Taylor connected with the invasion. 

General Taylor lost no time in prosecuting the war with 
his utmost energy without waiting for further orders. On 
the 17th of May, only four days after Congress had de- 
clared, " that war existed by the act of Mexico," and of 
course before he had received advices that the war he had 
commenced had been recognized by either government, 
General Arista sent a flag of truce to him requesting an 
armistice for six weeks, giving as a reason, his wish to 
communicate with his own government. But General 
Taylor was too well acquainted with the designs of his 
own government to accept a proposition so much in ac- 
cordance with the dictates of humanity, and which possi- 
bly might have led to the restoration of peace. The 
armistice was rejected ; and the next day he crossed the 
river and took possession of the city of Metaraoras.* 

"In the fierce strife of contending factions, the awful 
guilt of commeiicing an offensive and unnecessary war, 
will be imputed to different parties ; but the punishment 
due to guilt so enormous will be awarded by a tribunal 
before which all hearts will be open, and from which no 
secrets will be hid. 

* General Taylor, informing the War Department of his re- 
jection of this proposal, states, that he replied to Arista, " I was 
receiving large reinforcements and could not now suspend ope- 
rations Avhich 7 had nut initiated nor provoked — that the possession 
of Metamoras was a sine qua nan." It is to be supposed that the 
General reconciled this extraordinary declaration to his con- 
science, on the principle of qui faclt per ali^lm, facit per se, and 
that, being a mere instriiment, the war was initiated and pro- 
voked, not by himself, but the President. 



144 REVIEW OF THE MEXICAN WAR. 



CHAPTER XXI. 



SEIZURE OF CALIFORNIA. 



Before proceeding to detail the part taken by Mr. Polk 
and Congress, on the receipt of Taylor's announcement 
that hostiUties had commenced, we will call the attention 
of the reader to the early and provident measures de^^sed 
to secure, as speedily as possible, the object of these hos- 
tilities, the ACQUISITION OF California. On the 24th 
June, 1845, by order of Mr. Polk, " secret and confiden- 
tial" instructions were given to Commodore Sloat, com- 
manding the United States naval forces in the Pacific. " If 
you ascertain with certainty that Mexico has declared war 
against the United States, you will at once possess your- 
self of the port of Saint Francisco, and blockade and oc- 
cupy such other ports as your force may permit."* This 
naval force consisted of five vessels, and for months it was 
kept on the CaUfornia coast, ready to make the coveted 
prize at a moment's warning, and without waiting for ad- 
vices from home. The Commodore with his own and 
another vessel were waiting at Mazatlan, at the entrance 
of the Gulf of California, two more were stationed off 
Monterey, and the fifth was at St. Francisco. So admira- 
bly had all been arranged for an immediate conquest. On 
the Vth June, and of course within less than four weeks 
after the declaration of war by Congress, the Commodore 

* See documents submitted by the President ^ in obedience to a 
call from the House of Representatives, for instructions to oflBcers 
in California and the Pacific, communicated Dec 22d, 1846. 
App. to Oong. Globe, 2 Sess, 29 Cong., page 45. 



REVIEW OF THE MEXICAN WAR. 145 

heard of Taylor's conflicts on the Rio Grande. The long 
expected moment had arrived, and the next day he weighed 
anchor and sailed for Monterey. On the 7th July, that 
place was once more, without resistance, seized by our 
forces, and Sloat, hke his predecessor, Jones, forthwith 
distributed his proclamations in English and Spanish. 
Where or when they were prepared, and whether they 
were in manuscript or print, does not appear. Two days 
after, St. Francisco was hkewise in our possession. Sloat's 
proclamation reflected the determination of his employers 
— ''Henceforward California will he a portion of the 
United States." 

On landing at Monterey, the Commodore addressed a 
general order to his men in which he told them, " It is 
not only our duty to take California, but to preserve it 
afterwards as a part of the United States, at all hazards.* 
It is the duty of commanders to make conquests, but not 
to anticipate the terms of a treaty of peace. Yet here 
we find a naval captain solemnly proclaiming that the con- 
quest he has made ^ is never to be restored. He foresees 
and proclaims the annexation of Cahfornia, without appa- 
renthj knowing the wishes and intentions of his own gov- 
ernment, or without speculating on the fortunes of war. 
On the 13th August, Pueblos des los Angelos, the capital 
of the province v*'as taken, and on the 17th August, Com- 
modore Stockton, who had succeeded Sloat, and who 
styled himself " Commander-in-Chief and Governor of 
the Territory of California,'' announced in a proclamation, 
" The flag of the United States is now flying from every 
commanding position in the Territory, and California is 
entirely free from Mexican dominion. The territory of 
California now belongs to the United States." On the 

* For the documents here quoted, see Ex. Doc. 29 Cong, 2 

Sess. House of Kep, No. 4. 



146 REVIEW OF THE MEXICAN WAR. 

28tli of the same month, he wrote home, " this rich and 
beautiful country belongs to the United States, and is for 
EVER free from Mexican dominion." All this, it must be 
admitted, was quick work. On the 7 th July, Monterey- 
was taken, and in six weeks the object of the war was 
accomplished, '' the rich and beautiful country belonged 
to the United States." Not a life appears to have been 
lost in the conquest. The Mexican government had made 
no declaration of war, and its whole attention was en- 
grossed by the defence of its territory on the Rio Grande. 
The inhabitants of California were utterly unprepared for 
war, and were as ignorant as Commodore Sloat himself of 
the action of Congress. 

The rapidity with which the conquest of California was 
effected, was not however, entirely owing to the adroit 
measure of stationing armed vessels on different points of 
the coast, ready to make their descent the moment Taylor 
had succeeded in provoking hostilities on the Rio Grande. 
It will be recollected that the Mexican Government had 
been alarmed some years before at the ingress of Ameri- 
cans into that province, and had passed an order requiring 
their departure. Nor will it be forgotten that, intimidated 
by the bullying demeanor of Mr. Thompson, and his 
threat to demand his passports, the order had been 
revoked. The reader will call to mind that gentleman's 
confession of his " compunctious visitings" on the occa- 
sion, well-knoA^ang that these foreignei's were intending to 
re-enact the Texan game. The alarm of Mexico was 
well founded. The conquest of the province was prepared 
and facilitated by the treasonable course of the American 
settlers previous to their knowledge of the existence of 
the war. The history of the rebellion in California is but 
imperfectly known. The only information respecting it, 
disclosed by the Cabinet at Washington, is contained in 



REVIEW OF THE MEXICAN WAR. 147 

the report of the Secretary of War, made 5th Decembei, 
1846, and from this document we gather the followiiK'- 
narrative. In May, 1845, shortly before " the secret and 
confidential" instructions were given to Commodore Sloat, 
Captain Fremont, of the United States Army, was des- 
patched by Government on a tour of scientific explora- 
tion beyond the Rocky Mountains. He had sixty-two 
men under him ; but the Secretary declares that the 
expedition was not of a military character, and that the 
attendants did not belong to the army. On reaching the 
frontier of California, the Captain proceeded alone to 
Monterey to solicit permission from the Commandant, 
General Castro, for himself and party, to pass through a 
portion of the province. The desired permission was 
granted, but after the party had entered California, Fre- 
mont received information from Americans, that Castro 
was preparing to attack him with " a comparatively large 
force of artillery, cavalry and infantry, upon the pretext 
that, under the cover of a scientific mission, he was excit- 
ing the American settlers to revolt." This was indeed mar- 
vellous intelligence, and most marvellous means did the 
scientific Captain take to remove the groundless suspicions 
of the Cahfornian General. Instead of making his way 
out of the province as fast as he could, and proceeding 
upon the business entrusted to him by his Government, 
" he took a position on a mountain overlooking Monterey 
at a distance of about thirty miles, entrenched it, raised 
the flag of the United States, and with his own men 
sixty-two in number, awaited the approach of the Com- 
mandant-General." But the Captain, however valiant, did 
not depend solely on his sixty-tv/o men to resist the artil- 
lery, cavalry, and infantry of Castro ; for the Secretary 
tells us, " the American settlers were ready to join him at 
all hazards, if he had been attacked ;" and hence we 



148 REVIEW OF THE MEXICAN WAR. 

discover his motive for taking a military position at a con- 
venient distance from Montai'ey. This was in March, 
1846. After waiting some time for the anticipated attack, 
but nothing occurring to furnish a pretext for commenc- 
ing hostilities, he proceeded, without the shghtest molesta- 
tion from the Government, on his route to Oregon. 

In Oregon, he was annoyed by hostile Indians, who, as 
the Secretary informs us, but without condescending to 
furnish a particle of proof, " had been excited against him 
by General Castro." Again the Captain received alarm- 
ing intelligence, but from what source does not appear, 
" that General Castro, in addition to his Indian allies, was 
advancing against him with artillery and cavalry at the 
head of four or five hundred men !" He also heard 
that " the American settlers in the valley of Sacra- 
mento were comprehended in the scheme of destruction, 
meditated against his own party." — " Under these cir- 
cumstances (continues the Secretary), he determined to 
turn upon his Mexican pursuers, and seek safety both for 
his own party and the American settlers, not merely in 
the defeat of Castro, but in the total overthrow of 
THE Mexican Government in California, and the 
establishment of an independent Government in that 
extensive department." 

ftere let us paus« a moment, to reflect on the utter 
atrocity and profligacy of a design which the Secretary 
of War ostentatiously parades before the world. Admit- 
ting the truth of the ridiculous rumors said to have 
reached Fremont, it is very evident, that he was perfectly 
confident that the combined strength of his own party 
and that of the American settlers, was abundantly suffi- 
cient for their own protection, since he rehed on it to 
overturn the Mexican authority and to establish an inde- 
pendent Government. He, a commissioned officer of the 



REVIEW OF THE MEXICAN WAR. 149 

United States, without any known authority from his own 
Government abandons the object of his mission, and 
returns from Oregon into CaUfornia, for the express 
purpose of organizing a rebellion and wresting from 
Mexico with whom we were at peace, an " extensive 
department." It is certainly a remarkable coincidence, 
that while we had a squadron off the ports of California 
with orders to seize them at a moment's warning, Captain 
Fremont was opportunely exciting rebellion and a civil 
Avar in the interior. The Secretary himself foolishly puts 
the stamp of iniquity upon this adventure by declaring, 
" it was on the 6th of June, qjud before the commencement 
of the war between the United States and Mexico could 
have been knoivn^ that this resolution was taken, and by 
the 5th July it was carried into effect by a series of rapid 
attacks by a small body of adventurous men under the 
conduct of an intrepid leader." We are told that on the 
11th June, a convoy of two hundred horses for Castro's 
camp with an officer and fourteen men, were surprised 
and captured by twelve of Fremont's party. On the 15th, 
the military post of Sanoma was also surprised and 
taken, with nine brass cannon, two hundred and fifty 
stand of muskets, and several officers and some men, 
with munitions of war. "Leaving a small garrison in 
Sanoma, Colonel Fremont went to the Sacramento to 
rouse the A?nerican settlers ; but, scarcely had he arrived 
when an express reached him that Castro's whole force 
was crossing the bay to attack that place. On the morn- 
ing of the 25th, he arrived with ninety riflemen from the 
American settlers in that valley. The enemy had not yet" 
appeared* — scouts were sent out to reconnoitre, and a 
party of twenty fell in with a squadron of seventy dra- 
goons, attacked and defeated it. The country north of 
the Bay of San Francisco being cleared of the enemy, 
13* 



150 REVIEW OF THE MEXICAN WAR. 

Colonel Fremont returned to Sanoma on the evening of 
the 4th July, and on the morning of the 5th called the 
people together, explained to them the condition of 
things in the province, and recommended an immediate 
declaration of independence. The declaration was made, 
and he was selected to take the chief direction of affairs." 
The new-born Republic of California existed but for the 
brief period of four days, being then strangled by its 
parent, on receiving, as the Secretary tells us, " the 
gratifying intelligence " of the war with Mexico. Fremont 
and his followers, tocrether with the American settlers, 
immediately co-operated with the naval forces, and, on the 
departure of Commodore Stockton, the captain of the 
scientific exploring party beyond the Rocky Mountains, 
became Governor of the Americax territory of Cali- 
fornia. 

Such is the account the American Go-cernment thought 
proper to give of the Californian rebellion, throwing the 
whole responsibility of this atrocious affair on Fremont. 
Fortunately for the character of that officer, transactions 
which the Secretaiy did not deem it expedient to report 
have since come to light. On his return to the United 
States, Colonel Fremont presented certain pecuniary 
claims growing out of the conquest of Cahfornia. The 
subject was investigated by a committee of the Senate, 
and their report dissipates much of the mystery which 
had hitherto rested on Fremont's extraordinaiy conduct.* 

It seems that, on the 3rd Nov., 1845, after Taylor had 
been ordered to the Rio Grande, and while he was wait- 
ing with the army at Corpus Christi, five States having 
been required to furnish him with whatever troops he 
might need, a messenger was despatched by the Cabinet 
to Fremont. This messenger was Lieutenant Gillespie of 

* See Report, Senate Doc , No. 75. 30th Cong., 1st Sess. 



REVIEW OF THE MEXICAN WAR. 151 

the navy. He was sent to Vera Cruz, and thence travel- 
led through Mexico to Mazatlan, in California, in the dis- 
ffuise of a merchant. After an interview with Commodore 
Sloat at Mazatlan, he proceeded to Monterey, having 
been intrusted at Washington ^vith a letter of instructions 
to the American Consul. The contents of this letter have 
been withheld from the pubhc, and no doubt for sufficient 
cause, since we find from Gillespie's own confession that, 
before landing in Mexico, he destroyed the letter, having 
first committed it to memory. This letter to the Consul 
he was instructed to communicate to Fremont also. 
Hence we find that Gillespie was charged with instruc- 
tions of such a character, that he deemed it imprudent to 
carry the paper about his person, and that these instruc- 
tions, although addressed to the Consul in Monterey, were 
equally intended for Fremont. After reciting to the Con- 
sul the commands from Washington, the agent penetrated 
into Oregon in pursuit of Fremont, and found him a little 
beyond the California frontier. He delivered to him a 
note from the Secretary of State, composed in perfect 
keeping with the fictitious character assumed by the 
bearer. It consisted of a few lines, addressed to J. C. 
Fremont, Esquire, and telling him that Mr. Archibald H. 
Gillespie, about visiting the North-west coast of America 
on business, had requested a letter of introduction to him ; 
a request with which the Secretary complies, because the 
bearer was a gentleman of worth and respectability, and 
tvorthy of Mr. Fremont's regard. This, it must be con- 
fessed, was a novel mode of introducing an officer of the. 
navy to another of the army. But as one party was for 
the time bein^ a travellino; merchant, and the other a 
man of science, it was proper the introduction should be 
adapted to the parts they were playing. Of course, the 
note was to accredit Gillespie as a confidential agent of 



152 RLViLW OF iiii: i,i£xical>- war. 

the Government, and to intimate to Fremont that he was 
to obey the instructions orally communicated to him. 
Gillespie, in his examination before the Committee, re- 
marked, " I was directed by Mr. Buchanan to confer 
with Colonel Fremont, and make known my instructions, 
wliich, as I have previously stated, were to watch over 
the interests of the United States, and counteract the in- 
fluence of any foreign agents who might be in the coun 
try with objects prejudicial to the United States. I was 
also directed to show Colonel Fi-emont the duphcate of 
the despatch to Mr, Larkin, Consul at Monterey, and tell- 
ing him it was the wish of the Government to conciliate 
the feelings of the people of California, and encourage a 
friendship towards the United States." 

The Government, of course, knew as well as Mr. 
Thompson that the Cahfornian settlers were anxious to 
re-enact the Texan game. It is not to be supposed that 
so much secrecy and pains were taken to have agents on 
the spot to watch over our interests, and encourage fiiend- 
ship towards us, without intimating the means to be used 
in effecting their object. An independent republic in 
California, composed of American citizens, would, should 
peace continue with Mexico, inevitably result in annexa- 
tion ; should war ensue, it would greatly facilitate the 
conquest of the territory. 

The messenger from Washinarton reached Fremont on 
the 9th May. Immediately all his scientific pursuits were 
abandoned, and he and his party, together with Gillespie, 
hastened to the American settlements in California. 
These were reached on the Sacramento River in thirteen 
days. And novv' opened another scene in the plot. The 
gentleman " about visiting the North-west coast of Ame- 
rica on business" proceeded down the river to Saint 
Francisco, off which port a United States' ship-of-war 



REVIEW OF THE MEXICAN WAR. 153 

was lying, ready to seize upon the place at a moment's 
warning. The American commander, Gillespie tells us, 
" with great kindness, promjytness, and eneryij, furnished 
me with all the supplies he could spare from his vessel, 
as also having supplied Captain Fremont with a small 
sum of money." What these supplies were we are not 
told, but ra;iy readily imagine, especially as they were 
sent in the ship's barge, under the command of a lieuten- 
ant. Gillespie accompanied the supplies up the river, 
and on the 13th rejoined Fremont. He found that the 
insurrection had ah'eady commenced, the settlers rising, 
as he says, "to save themselves and their crops from de- 
struction." 

On the 16th, Captain Merritt, one of the settlers, " ar- 
rived with a small escort, bringing with him General Val- 
lejo. Colonel Salvador Vallejo, and Colonel Prudon, pri- 
soners ; a party of forty of the settlers having surprised 
and taken Sonoma, the first military garrison in that part 
of the country." Thus we see a war against the Califor- 
nians was commenced after the arrrival of Fremont, and 
without one single act of hostility having been committed 
ao-ainst them. Of course, we have assertions in abundance 
of the iyitentions of General Castro, the commanding offi- 
cer, while the result proved his utter inability even to 
defend himself. Fremont and his party zealously coope- 
rated in the war, and were presently masters of that part 
of the country. The force at his, disposal was a battalion 
of 224 men, and on the 5th July he raised the standard 
of the Republic of California. 

On a calm review of the facts before us, it is impossible 
to resist the conviction, that Fremont was given to under- 
stand, but in a way not to compromit the Government, 
that the abandonment of his exploration in Oregon for the 
purpose of exciting and aiding an insurrection in CaHfomia, 



154 r::vii;\v of Tiii: Mexican wau. 

would not expose him to censure. On no other supposi- 
tion would it be possible foi* him to escape the personal 
application of the principle laid down by General Jackson, 
that " any individual of any nation making war against the 
citizens of another nation, they being at peace, forfeits his 
allegiance, and becomes an outlaw and a pirate." If he 
acted, as there is little reason to doubt, as the agent of the 
President, and in accordance with his wishes, upon that 
officer rests the perfidy and turpitude of secretly instigat- 
ing this rebeUion and civil war, while professing friendly 
intentions towards Mexico, and soliciting a renewal of 
diplomatic intercourse with her. Had Mexico paid all our 
claims to the last cent, had she yielded the Valley of the 
Rio Grande without a murmur, and had there conse- 
quently been no war, still, Fremont's " Repubhc of Cali- 
fornia,'' like Houston's " Republic of Texas," Avould have 
become ours by " joint resolutions" of annexation, and 
Mr. Polk, or some other President in his words would 
have congratulated Congress that " This accession to our 
territory," like that of Texas, " has been a bloodless achieve- 
ment. No armed force has been raised to produce the 
result. The sicord has had no part in the victory. '' 

It is curious to observe with what wonderful clairvoy- 
ance the naval officers in California understood and exe- 
cuted their instructions, long before they were received. 
It appears officially* that the despatch of the 13th May, 
1846, announcing the declaration of war, did not reach 
the Squadron till about the 28t]i of August ; and of coui-se 
Tip to that time these officers had been acting on their own 
discretion. Let us now see what instructions were sent to 
them after the war, and how exactly they had been anti- 
cipated before their receipt. 

* Report of Secretary of Navy, 19tb Dec, 1846. Appendix to 
Cong. Globe for 29th Cong , 2(1 Sess,, p. 45. 



REVIEW OF THE MEXICAN WAR. ] 55 

On the 15tli May, two days after war was declared, 
Commodore Sloat was directed to "consider the most im- 
portant object to be, to taJce and hold possession of San 
Francisco." On the 19th July, San Francisco was taken, 
and the inhabitants were informed by proclamation, that 
** henceforth California will be a portion of the Utiited 
States:' 

The next despatch, June 8th, instructs Sloat to " take 
such measures as will best promote the attachment of 
the people of CaHfornia to the United States." Sloat, 
in his proclamation, dated Yth July, assures the Cali- 
fornians that " peaceable inhabitants will enjoy the same 
rights and privileges as the citizens of any other por- 
tion of that territory (the United States), with all the 
rights and privileges they now enjoy, together with the 
privileges of choosing their own magistrates and other 
officers for the administration of justice among themselves, 
and the same protection will be extended to them as to 
any other State in the Union." Thus the proclamation 
had already annexed them to the United States. 

On the 12th July, Sloat is told, "The object of the 
United States is, under its rights as a belligerent nation, to 
possess itself entirely of Upper California," and ?/,'* at the 



*That this hypothetical statement was mere affectation, is evident 
from the indiscreet disclosures of the intentions of Mr. Polk, 
contained in the instructions to Stockton, of 11th January, 
1847 : " At present it is needless, and mii2;ht he injurious to the 
public interests, to agitate the question in California, how long 
those persons who have been elected for a prescribed time, will 
have official authority. If our right of possession shall become 
absolute, such an inquiry is needless And if by treaty av 
otherwise, we lose the possession, those who follow us will govern 
the country. The President, however, anticipates no such re- 
sult. On the contrary, he foresees no contingency in which 
the United States will ever surrender err relinqnisk the possession of 
Califoi-nia." Of course Mr. Polk had thus early-, and without 
consulting the Senate, determined at all hazards to make the 
cession of California the sine qua twv, of a treaty of peace. 



156 REVIEW OF THE MEXICAN WAR. 

conclusion of peace, " the basis of the uii possidetis shall 
be established, the Government expects through your 
forces to be found in actual possession of Upper Califor- 
nia. This will bring with it the necessity of a civil ad- 
ministration — Stick a Government should be established 
under your protection.'" Sloat had retired on account of 
ill health, and been succeeded by Commodore Stockton 
who, long before the receipt of this despatch, issued a 
proclamation making " Known to all men," that the terri- 
tory known as Upper and Lower California, i^ a territory 
of the United States, under the name of the territory of 
California. ''I do, by these presents," continues the pro- 
clamation, " further order and decree, that the Govern- 
ment of the said territory of California shall be, until 
altered by the proper authority of the United States, con- 
stituted in manner and form as follows ;" and then follows 
a form of Government consisting of a Governor, Secre- 
tary, Legislative Council, &c. 

On the 17th August, Commodore Shubrick was sent to 
reUeve Sloat, from whom not a word had yet been receiv- 
ed. He was ordered to take immediate possession of 
Upper California, especially of the three ports of San 
Francisco, Montere}', and San Diego," if not already cap- 
tured, — and also, " to take possession, by an inland expe- 
dition, of Pueblos de los Angelos." All four places were 
captured before a line was received from Washington, and 
Pueblos de los Angelos was taken by an inland expedi- 
tion four days before the date of the instructions. Shu- 
brick was farther directed that " all United States vessels 
and merchandize must be allowed by the local authorities 
of the ports of which you take possession, to come and go 
free of duty ; but on foreign vessels and goods reasonable 
duties may be imposed." But Commodore Stockton had 
alreadv anticipated thi<i instruction two davs before it was 



REVIEW OF THE MEXICAN WAR. 157 

written. On the loth August, he had imposed a duty 
of fifteen per cent, ad valorum on all goods imported from 
foreign ports, and a tonnage duty on foreign vessels of 
fifty cents per ton, but no duties were imposed on Ameri- 
can vessels and merchandize. 

On finding these various instructions so exactly antici- 
pated, so minutely fulfilled by officers who had not re- 
ceived one fine of intelligence from their government sub- 
sequent to the commencement of the war, it is impossible 
to resist the conviction, that the seizure of California had 
long before been deliberately planned, and that the inten- 
tions and wishes of the Government had been fully made 
known to the officers, the plan of proceeding agreed on, 
and the squadron stationed off the Californian ports, await- 
ing news from the Ptio Grande as a signal for instantly 
seizing and securing the prize for which the war was to be 
commenced on the Rio Grande. 
14 



158 REVIEW OF THE MEXICAN WAR. 



CHAPTER XXII. 

DECLARATION OF WAR AGAINST MEXICO. 

The receipt of Taylor's letter of the 26th April, relating 
to the capture of Thornton's party which had, as we have 
seen, " become engaged " with the Mexicans by attacking 
them, gave the administration its first intelligence that the 
march to the Rio Grande had led to its intended result. 
The letter reached Washington on Saturday the 9th May. 
Its contents were speedily made known, and on Sunday 
evening a meeting of members of Congress, partisans of 
the President, was held, and war was decided on."^ On 
Monday morning, the President sent a war message to 
Congress, which from its lengthf must either have been 
written on the day devoted by the Creator to holy rest, 
or else prepared some time before in anticipation of the 
success of Taylor's mission. In this message, after ad- 
verting in the usual style to the grievous wrongs perpe- 
trated by Mexico upon our citizens throughout a long pe- 
riod of years, he closed the mournful catalogue by an- 
nouncing to the representatives of the nation, " Mexico 

HAS PASSED THE BOUNDARY OF THE UnITED StATES, HAS 
INVADED OUR TERRITORY, AND SHED AMERICAN BLOOD UPON 

THE American soil. She has proclaimed that hos- 
tilities HAVE commenced, AND THAT THE TWO NATIONS 

* Speech of C. J, Ingersoll. App. to Cong. Globe, 29th Cong., 
2 Sees., p. 125. 

t Occupying six pages in print. 



REVIEW OF THE MEXICAN WAR. 159 

ARE AT WAR." *' I invoke," said Mr. Polk, " the prompt 
action of Congress to recognize the existence of the war, 
and to place at the disposition of the Executive the means 
of prosecuting the war with vigor, and thus hastening the 
restoration of 'peace {/)'' Thus emulous was this gentle- 
man of the blessing promised to the peace-maker. 

Let us now see how this invocation to make peace by- 
commencing with vigor the work of human slaughter, was 
received by the American Congress. This body was the 
grand inquest of the nation. The President appeared be- 
fore them as a prosecuting officer, accusing the Govern- 
ment of Mexico of high crimes and misdemeanors, and 
demanding from his auditors a judgment which would be 
equivalent to a sentence of death against thousands and 
tens of thousands of human beings, including multitudes 
of their own countrymen. We might suppose that Con- 
gress, impressed with the awful responsibility thus im- 
posed upon them, would apply themselves with calm, 
patient, and prayerful consideration to the duty before 
them ; that they would rigidly scrutinize the evidence 
submitted to them, and most earnestly seek for expe- 
dients to rescue their own and a neighboring country from 
the tremendous calamities impending over them. They 
were informed by the President, that a party of Ameri- 
cans and Mexicans had "become engaged,'' and sixteen of 
the former had been killed and wounded. Thus a colli- 
sion had occurred. But such a colHsion does not amount 
to war. A British frigate had some years since assaulted 
an American national ship, killed a portion of her crew, 
and forcibly impressed another portion. No war ensued ; 
but explanations were given, and redress made. Still 
later an American steamboat was seized in our own waters 
by a British force, and destroyed, and one of the crew 



160 EEVIEW OF THE MEXICAN WAR. 

killed. Still no war ensued. An examination of the tes- 
timony submitted by Mr. Polk might possibly show, that 
the recent collision was accidental, or provoked on our 
part, or unauthorized by Mexico. Explanations, if de- 
manded, might lead to a pacific result, and the effusion 
of blood be prevented. Of all crimes, the commence- 
ment of an unnecessary war is the most atrocious, the 
most deserving the wrath of God, and the execration of 
mankind. 

Melancholy and humiliating is the fact, that the American 
Congress passed a decree which they knew would occa- 
sion wide-spread wailing and lamentation, and woe and 
death, with a recklessness, a precipitation, and a disregard 
of evidence, which no court of judicature in our land 
would dare to manifest in consigning to the penitentiary a 
man charged with petit larceny. Shocking as is such an 
assertion, its truth is still more so. The Message of the 
President was accompanied with manuscript copies of the 
correspondence between the Government and Mr. Slidell 
and General Taylor ; and this correspondence contained 
the evidence on which he rested his momentous charges 
against Mexico ; the testimony on which alone Congress 
could pronounce on the truth or falsehood of the charges. 
We will let one of the members relate the proceedings of 
the House of Representatives on Monday the 11th Ma}^ 
1846, on the receipt of the message. "It was proposed 
by a whig member (Mr. Winthrop), that the documents 
accompanying the Message be read. By a strict party 
vote this MOTION was rejected. The House went im- 
mediatehj into a committee of the whole. The Commit- 
tee rose in a ver)^ short time, and reported a bill accord- 
ing to the President's wishes. The previous question 
(preventing all debate), was called and carried, and the 



REVIEW OF THE MEXICAN WAR. It'll 

House brought to a vote, without one word of explana- 
tion, proof, or argument on the amendment which asseits 
the existence of war by the ' act of Mexico.' On this 
question the vote stood — ayes 123, to 67 noes. The 
amendments having been gone through, and the bill en- 
grossed, the question came, on its final passage. Again 
the pre\'ious question was moved and seconded ; and, 
after some ineffectual efforts on the part of various mem- 
bers to enter their protest against this yerj preamble, the 
vote was forced under the (/cif/, and the bill carried by 
ayes 1*74, nays 14. The whole proceeding from begin- 
ning to end occupied but a small portion of a single day. 
The previous question was applied at every step and all 
debate, explanation, and every attempt to get informa- 
tion, Avas put dov^n by paity votes of the dominant 
party."* In the Senate, the Message was referi-ed to a 
Committee, which the next day, instead of reporting /c/c^^, 
contented themselves with reporting the bill from the 
House, and this Avas passed by a vote of 50 to 2. " We 
had not," said Mr. Calhoun, alluding to this precipitate 
action, " a particle of evidence that the Republic of Mexico 
had made war against the United Statcs."f This bill 
declaring that war exists by the act of Mexico, placed 
the army and navy at the disposal of the President, pro- 
vided for the employment of fifty thousand volunteers, 
and appropriated ten millions of dollars for the prosecu- 
tion of the Avar. Thus Avas a system of human butchery 
commenced Avithout argument, Avithout examination, Avith- 

* Speech of Mr. Pendleton of Virginia, 22(1 Feb. 1847. See- 
App. to Cong. Globe, 29tli Cong., 2 Sess., p 112. 

t See speech, 24th Feb., 1847. Coiig. Globe, 27th Feb. 1847. 
The preamble of an act of the Mexican Congress raising sup- 
plies, tlnis repudiates the idea tliat the war was commenced 
by the Republic : " The Mexican nation finds itself in a state of 
war Avith the United States of America." 

14* 



162 REMEW OF THE MEXICAN WAR. 

out listening to one word of the evidence offered, and 
without even the pretence of a desire to avoid or delay 
the awful calamity. 

Whatever opinion may be entertained of the lawfulness 
of defensive war, the moral sense of mankind, irrespec- 
tive of religious creeds, condemns as most iniquitous an 
offensive and aggressive one. Such a v/ar differs from 
murder and robbery only in the stupendous enormity and 
extent of the crime. The vast military power and 
resources confided to the President, were to be employed 
not in enforcing rights, not in obtaining redress for inju- 
ries. Congress disclaimed, by their acts and the preamble 
of their bill, all idea of commencing hostilities. A motion 
to declare war was rejected by an overwhelming majority. 
It was deemed expedient to declare, that it already existed 
by the act of Mexico, thus representing to the nation and 
the world, that the war Avas on our side purely a defen- 
sive one, undertaken to repel an invading enemy. 

And what was the power that had dared to invade the 
United States, and by its assault had thrown this great 
confederacy into such imminent danger, that Congress 
found it necessary to provide fifty thousand troops in 
addition to the regular army, in such haste as not to 
allow them time even to read the desjMtch announcing the 
invasion ? 

The Republic of Mexico had long been the prey of 
military chieftains, who, in their struggles for power and 
the perpetual revolutions they had excited, had exhausted 
the resources of the country. Without money, without 
credit, without a single frigate, without commerce, with- 
out union, and with a feeble population of seven or eight 
milhons, composed chiefly of Indians and mixed breeds, 
scattered over immense regions, and for the most part 
sunk in ignorance and sloth, Mexico v>-as certainly not 



REVIEW OF THE MEXICAN WAR. 1(,!3 

a very formidable enemy to the United States.* It was 
impossible for any Mexican force to reach us by sea ; and 
to reach us by land, her armies would have been obhged 
to cross an uninhabited desert nearly two hundred miles 
in breadth, before they arrived at the Nueces, the boun- 
dary of Texas. The people of that revolted province had 
for years maintained their independence in spite of 
Mexico, and no doubt can be entertained that their raih- 
tia were amply able to drive back any army Mexico might 
send into her territory. There was not a female in our 
country whose slumbers were broken, through apprehen- 
sion of the pretended invasion of the United States. Not 
a Mexican soldier had trod on soil owned by an American 
citizen — not a shot had been fired within a hundred miles 
of an American dwelhng. 

The apparent -panic, therefore, under which Congress 
voted fifty thousand additional troops for defence, was not 
real but feigned. The war, as we have seen, was not 
commenced to recover the amount of our claims, and 
procure redress of grievances, but avowedly for defence ; 
a motive so palpably false and absurd, that, although 
officially professed by the President, and in the preamble 
of the Act of Congress, but one single member of 
Congress, it is believed, had the hardihood to urge 
it in justification of his vote. The true object of the war 

* The following particulars are gathered from the work on 
Mexico, by Brantz Mayer : 

Population. 

Indians, 4,000,000 

Whites, 1,000,000 

Negroes, 6,000 

All other casts, - - - - 2,009,509 

•" 7,015,509 

Exports from Mexico in 1842, exclusive of 

Gold and Silver, SI ,500,000 

National debt, 85,000,000 

— " Mexico as it was, and as it is." 



164 REVIEW OF THE MEXICAN WAR, 

was thus frankly stated by Mr, C. J. Ingersoll, as Chair- 
man of the Committee of Foreign Relations, in a report 
he presented February, 1847 : " Complaints of the resort 
to territorial conquests from Mexico are disarmed of 
reproach by the undeniable facts, that Mexico, by war, 
constrains the United States to take by conquest what, 
ever since the Mexican independence, every American 
administration has been striving to get by purchase ; and 
that the executive orders, and mihtary and naval execu- 
tion of them for the achievement of conquest, have con- 
formed not merely to the long estabhshed policy of our 
Government but wise principles of self-preservation indis- 
pensable to all provident Government," This official 
language of the report was but a repetition of sentiments 
advanced by the chairman, in a speech in the House, 19th 
January, 1847 : " War as often waged," said Mr, Inger- 
soll, " is a theme of copious lamentation ; and so it should 
be. But what the old ivomen of both sexes are given to 
deplore as the calamities of war, where have they been 
yet felt in these hostilities with Mexico ? Never was the 
country more prosperous, or so powerful as at present. I 
mean to show unanswerably that all parties in the United 
States, all administrations of this Government since 
Mexico ceased to be a Spanish Province, have united in 
the policy of getting from her by fair means precisely 
those territories which, and only which, she has now con- 
strained us to take by force, though even yet we are dis- 
posed to pay for them, not by blood merely, but by 
money too."* In other words, if Mexico will yet consent 
to sell us these coveted territories — at our own price, we 
will cease to murder her citizens in order to acquire them. 
This avowal explained the extreme and apparently ludi- 
crous solicitude expressed by Mr. Polk for peace. The 
* App. to Cong. Globe, 1847, p. 125. 



REVIEW OF THE MEXICAN WAR. 165 

war being waged solely for territory, the more vigorously 
it was prosecuted, the sooner would Mexico be compelled 
to purchase peace by making the desired cession. The 
dismemberment of another, not the defence of its own 
country, was the object of the American Government. 
Why such dismemberment was desired, will be seen 
in the sequel. 

The object we have, assigned for the war, does not 
explain why of two hundred and forty members of Con- 
gress, only sixteen were found who voted against a bill 
containing in its preamble an assertion imsupported by 
proof, and appropriating great supplies for defence when 
no danger threatened. 

Few, if any, of the Northern members had a direct 
interest in the -conquest of Cahfornia; but all were inter- 
ested in the ascendency of one or the other of the two 
great political parties. Mr. Polk and his Cabinet were 
the leaders and representatives of the democratic party, 
and the dispensers of the vast patronage wielded by the 
Federal Government. To vote against the war would 
have been, in the democratic members, an act of rebellion 
against their own party, and an exclusion of themselves 
for the future from all participation in the favors of the 
administration. It would, moreover, alienate the South- 
ern Democrats from their Northern brethren, and by the 
division thus occasioned would most probably, at the next 
elections, transfer the pohtical power of the nation, with 
all its emoluments, into the hands of the rival party. 
Not a solitary democratic vote in either House was given 
against the war. 

The Whig party v/as placed under very d^iferent cir- 
cumstances. They were in the minority, and were striv- 
ing to gain the seats occupied by the present incumbents. 
Hence it was their policy to cast the utmost odium upon 



1G6 REVIEW OF THE MEXICAN WAR. 

the administration, and to represent its measures as un- 
wise and dishonest, and injui'ious ahke to the interests 
and the morals of the countr3\ Hence no denunciations 
of the course by which the administration had involved 
the nation in the calamaties of war, were too violent or 
too unmeasm-ed. The conduct of Mr. Polk, in particular, 
was all that was false, base, and wicked. The war was 
the President's war ; and the assertion, that it was the act 
of Mexico, a palpable falsehood. But the multitude are 
ever fascinated with military glory, and ever ready to 
enjoy the spoils of Avar. It was, therefore, deemed most 
politic to make a distinction between the war and its au- 
thors. The latter were, if possible, to be hurled from 
office for commencing an iniquitous war ; but the patriot- 
ism of the Whig party was to be manifested in their 
vigorous prosecution of this same iniquitous war, for the 
gloi-y of the nation. Had the Whigs voted against sup- 
plies after they were told that war existed, they might 
have been charged at the polls with derehction to the 
cause of their country. It was, therefore, deemed more ex- 
pedient to concur in sending fifty thousand men to rob 
Mexico, and murder her citizens, than to hazard the loss 
of votes at the approaching elections. The excuse gene- 
rally made by the Whigs for supporting the war bill was, 
that General Taylor and his army were in danger of being 
destroyed or captured by the Mexicans. The excuse 
was not only false, but it was palpably ridiculous. The 
very despatch in which Taylor announced that hostili- 
ties had commenced, demonstrated his entire security. 
After stating the calls he had made on the governors of 
Texas and JLouisiana for troops, he adds, " This will con- 
stitute an auxihary force of nearly five thousand men, 
which will be necessary to prosecute the war with energy, 
and cany it, as it should be, into the enemy's country.^* 



REVIEW OF THE MEXICAN WAR. 167 

So that, at the very moment he wrote, instead of being in 
danger of captivity, he was making preparations for ad- 
vancing into Mexico, and for this purpose, he deemed one- 
tenth of the force so hberally allowed him by the Whigs, 
amply sufficient. Seve^i days after the fifty thousand 
men had been voted, Taylor, without even waiting for the 
five thousand for which he had called, entered the city of 
Metamoras, the Mexican army flying before him. 

But had Taylor indeed been in danger, the Whigs well 
knew that his fate would he decided long before a corpo- 
ral's guard raised under the act could possibly reach him. 
They were, moreover, told by the President himself, in 
his Message, that Taylor v/as authorized to call for and 
accept volunteers from no less than six of the nearest 
States. The Administration, foreseeing and intending the 
war, had already, without any authority from Congress, 
most amply provided for Taylor's security. Well was it 
said on the floor of Congress, in reply to this pitiful apolo- 
gy, " Compare the provisions of the bill with the object 
avowed of afl'ording relief to General Taylor and his 
army ; and what a picture does it present ? The bill 
provides that the mihtia, army, and navy of the United 
States, together with fifty thousand volunteers, shall be 
placed at the disposal of the President for the purpose of 
prosecuting the war to a speed?/ and successful termination. 
Thus upon the face of the bill is its object clearly, dis- 
tinctly, and explicitly set forth and declared." The asser- 
tion, therefore, made by the Whigs, that their vote was 
given for the protection of General Taylor, is of a similar 
character with that v*'hich they so bitterly denounced in' 
the preamble of the bill, that war existed by the act of 
Mexico. Their apology for voting for this assertion, which 
they acknowledged to be a falsehood, was, that they had 
first voted against it. However consistent such an apology 



168 REVIEW OF THE MEXICAN WAR. 

may be with the morals of pohtics, it will certainly not be 
deemed satisfactory by those who regard the Scriptures as 
the standard of ethics. The vote of the Whig members 
was probably the most extraordinary and humiliating ex- 
hibition of moral cowardice ever witnessed in the national 
Leo;islature ; nor did it escape exposure and castigation. 
Sarcasms and reproaches, which it was impossible to elude 
or to answer, were showered upon the Whig members 
without stint by their opponents. The following is a 
sample of the rebukes they received : Mr. Brocken- 
borough of Florida thus exposed the false and unhappy 
position in which the Whigs had placed themselves by 
their unscrupulous calculations of expediency — "The 
very term * unjust war' involves rapine and bloodshed, 
robbery and murder. Every step is infamous, a crime for 
which the country should shroud itself in mourning. But 
you rejoice and glory in it. You send forth the poor 
soldier, for whom you aflfect such sympathy, and tell him 
to slay — but it is murder : to fall fighting valiantly — but 
it is a felon's death. You bid the American mother send 
forth her child at her country's call, to stain himself with 
crime — to return a robber, red and reeking with innocent 
blood. You call your soldiers heroes, and write on their 
monuments ' rapine, murder.' You vote swords and 
thanks, and medals and land, and money and pensions, 
for what you say is crime ; and crime so black that indi- 
viduals committing it, loithout your sanction, receive only 
ignominy, a prison, or a halter. 

" We (democrats) believe, before God and ihe world, 
that the war is just on our part. If we err, we err after 
full deliberation and argument, with the best judgment 
Heaven has vouchsafed to us, in the behef that we are 
discharging a patriotic duty redounding to the honor and 
character of our counti-v. If there is any infamv — any 



REVIEW OF THE MEXICAN WAR. 169 

crime, it is not ours. Gentlemen claim it all. We have 
no intentio7i of wickedness. We act throughout as we 
profess. But you declare war and denounce it as infamous, 
but vote all supplies, and urge its vigorous prosecution. 
You preach that it is murder, and boast how many Whigs 
there are in it — how many friends, how many constituents 
you have in it, who volunteered to go. 

"You charge that it is a crime, and complain that 
more Democrats than Whigs have been appointed to 
carry on the villainy, and speak of the chief man in the 
gang (General Taylor) for the Presidency. You vote 
monuments to the dead — trophies, thanks, emoluments, 
bounties to the living — to entice people to imbrue their 
hands in blood — in infamy. 

" If this war is unjust, gentlemen are not absolved by 
the cry of * Mr. Polk's war.' Thei/ voted for it. Declama- 
tion against Mr. Polk will not screen them from their own 
denunciations of the horror, the sin, and crime, and mur- 
der, of unjust war. If crime and infamy, the record 
bears conviction of the actors upon its face, and there it 
will stand, indehble and imperishable, as the Republic itself 
It will adhere, like the shirt of Nessus, to its authors. 
Like the gfarment Media wove for Jason, it will cleave and 
burn into the flesh until they perish. Enhancing the 
crime, they only invoke more fearful punishment upon 
themselves." 

Rarely, indeed, has any dehberative body hstened to 
sarcasm so withering, or invective so powerful and so just. 

Still the leaders of the Whig party in Congress clung 
with fearless tenacity to a policy which, although immoral, 
they believed to be advantageous. They continued through 
the whole existence of the war to denounce it as unjust, 
wicked, and unconstitutional, but nevertheless evinced 
their patriotism, by voting the supplies required by the 
15 



170 REVIEW OF THE MEXICAN WAR. 

President for ensuring a criminal triumph. It is, how- 
ever, due to the party at laige* to acknowledge, that its 
submission, especially at the JN'orth, to this policy of its 
leaders, was partial and reluctant. The American Eeview, 
a very able journal devoted to the interests of the party, 
thus honorably confessed and condemned the motives 
which actuated the Whig members of Congress who voted 
for the war : *' The vote for fifty thousand volunteers and 
ten millions of dollars was all but unanimous. The reso- 
lution asking for these means were preceded by a lying 
preamble, which imputed the war to the act of Mexico. 
The resolution, preamble and all, was eagerly swallowed. 
So much more solicitous seemed even the Whigs about 
2)ersonal popularity, which might be jeoparded by what 
would be represented as an abandonment of the cause of 
a gallant but beleaguered army, in refusing or delaying to 
vote for this bill, than for the cause of truth and right." 

The Whig Legislature of Massachusetts emphatically 
rebuked the course pursued by some of the Whig repre- 
sentatives from that State in Congress, by adopting a 
resolution declaring : " That such a war of conquest, so 
hateful in its objects, so wanton, unjust, and unconstitu- 
tional in its origin and character, must be regarded as a 
war against freedom, against humanity, against justice, 
against the Union, and against the free States ; and that 
a regard for the true interests and highest honor of the 
country, not less than the impulses of Christian duty, 
should arouse all good citizens to join in efforts to arrest 
this war, and in every just way aiding the country to 
retire from the position of aggression which it now occu- 
pies towards a weak, distracted neighbor and sister Re- 
public." 

That only sixteen members out of two hundred and 
forty should have voted against the war, while a very 



REVIEW OF THE MEXICAN WAR. 



171 



large minority admitted its injustice, and the falsehood of 
the assertion that it had been commenced by Mexico, is a 
melancholy proof that moral courage and independence 
were not characteristics of the American Congress of 
1846. And yet these qualities invariably attract confid- 
ence, esteem, and influence, even from those against whom 
they are exercised. " I admire," said one of the leaders 
of the war party, " I admire the sincerity, I reverence 
the consistency of the immortal fourteen (in the House 
of Representatives) who voted against the declaration of 
war. Their judgment was convinced that the war was 
wrong, and they voted as their judgment dictated. They 
violated the laws neither of God nor of man. But he 
who denounces the war as unjust, and yet votes for it, 
violates God's holy law and every principle of ethics." 
Let the names of these honest, consistent men, who feared 
God more than man, and looked rather to the Day of 
Judgment than to the day of election, be borne upon the 
affectionate remembrance of the Christian community. 
They were : 

SENATE.* 

Thomas Clayton, .... Delaware. 
John Davis, Massachusetts. 



HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES. 



John Quincy Adams, 
George Ashmun, 
Joseph Grinnell, 
Charles Hudson, 
Daniel P. King, 
Henry T. Cranston, 
Erastus D. Culver, . 



••Massachusetts. 



Rhode Island. 
New York. 



* It is due to justice to mention, that Mr. Corwin, a Senator 
from Ohio, afterwards publicly condemned and regretted the 
vote he had given for the war. 



172 



REVIEW OF THE MEXICAN WAR. 



Luther Severance, . 

John Strahan, . . 

Columbus Delano, . 

Joseph M. Root, . , 
Daniel R. Tilden, 

Joseph Yance, . , 
Joshua R. Giddings, 



Maine. 
Pennsylvania. 



yOhio. 



REVIEW OF THE MEXICAN WAR. 173 



CHAPTER XXIII. 

THE WAR PROSECUTED FOR CONQUEST. 

In utter disregard of the multiplied proofs to the con- 
trary, Mr. Polk thought it expedient, in his Message to 
Congress of the 8th December, 1846, to hazard the ex- 
traordinary assertion, " The war has not been w^aged 
WITH a view to conquest" ! He added, " But having 
been commenced by Mexico, it has been carried into the 
enemy's country, and will be there vigorously prosecuted, 
with a view to obtain an honorable peace, and thereby 
secure ample indemnity for the expenses of the Avar, as 
well as to our much-injured citizens, who hold large 
pecuniary demands against Mexico." We have seen Mr. 
Polk's early and persevering efforts to secure California, 
and his official declaration, in the instructions to Stockton, 
that he could foresee no contingency in Avhich the United 
States would ever surrender or relinquish that province. 
What abuse of language can be greater than to fight for 
territory with the declared intention of holding it for 
ever, and yet to pretend that we fight not for conquest 
but indemnity ? But, independent of this most wretched 
quibbling about a word, let us pause for a moment to 
consider the avowal made by the President of the United 
States to a Christian people. It is no longer pretended 
that the war is one of defence. We are, it seems, to con- 
tinue fighting till we are paid for our trouble in slaugli-, 
tering. We killed Mexicans on the Rio Grande; but, 
receiving no pay, we bombarded Vera Cruz, and killed 
15* 



174 REVIEW OF THE MEXICAN WAR. 

more. This swelled our demand for compensation. Not 
receiving it, we marched hundreds of miles to the City of 
Mexico, and killed some thousands more. This added 
another and a heavy item to our bill ; and thus we were 
to proceed, spreading misery and death, till we were fully 
indemnified for the money, and trouble, and blood, we 
had expended in filling a sister Repubhc with wailing, 
and lamentation, and woe. Tlie idea of thus killing other 
people, and sacrificing the lives of our own citizens, for 
the purpose of getting pay for fighting, is original with 
Mr. Polk ; at least, he finds no precedent for such policy 
in the history of his own country. Our revolutionary 
fathers rejoiced to lay down their arms the moment the 
object for which they had been taken was accomplished. 
Not a voice was heard recommending a continuance of 
hostilities till Great Britain indemnified us for fighting her 
the last seven years. In 1815, we again rejoiced in mak- 
ing peace with Great Britain, without asking any indem- 
nity for killing Englishmen, capturing British vessels, and 
carrying the war into Canada. It is only poor, feeble, 
exhausted Mexico, who must bleed on, till she pays us 
for letting blood. 

But we are to continue the work of slaughter, not only 
till we are paid for our powder and shot, &c., but also 
till Mexico discharges a debt of a few millions, which she 
is said to owe certain of our citizens. And thus, at a day 
when it is deemed inhuman even to imprison an insolvent, 
Mr. Polk recommends that Mexican bonds shall be steep- 
ed in human gore, and that we shall proceed to collect 
our debts by murdering the debtors. And ail this to 
indemnify our " much-injured citizens." But how will 
Mr. Polk indemnify the vast multitude of women and 
children whom his policy has made Avidows and orphans ? 
What tariff will he establish for broken hearts and blasted 



REVIEW OF THE MEXICAN WAR. 175 

hopes? What indemnity would he claim from Mexico 
for all the crimes and blasphemies, for all the horrors of 
the hospital and the battle-field, for all the desolation and 
misery in this life, and in that which is to come, engen- 
dered by the war ? 

Injustice to Mr. Polk, we acquit him of the horrible 
atrocity of wishing to continue the slaughter of the Mexi- 
cans for compensation for the cost of killing them, and of 
the consummate folly of expending a hundred millions of 
dollars in collecting three or four of alleged debt. PoK- 
ticians often think it wise to conceal their real motives by 
assigning false ones. The war was to be continued, not / 
to obtain a reimbursement of its expenses, not to collect a 1/ 
paltry debt, but solely for conquest. We have already 
seen that it was the President's determination to annex 
California to the Union. Let us now listen to a few of 
the frank avowals of the partisans of the war in Congress. 

Mr. Stanton, of Tennessee, declared that, "The an- 
nexation of California to the United States, was the great 
measure of the age."* 

Mr. BedinCtEr, of Virginia — " Was this to be a war of 
conquest ? He answered, yes ; trusting in Heaven, and 
on the valor of their arms, this should be a war of con- 
quest, "f 

Mr. Sevier, of Arkansas, speaking of the territories to - 
be acquired from Mexico, observed, "He supposed no 
Senator would think that they ought to be less than New 
Mexico and Upper California. He did not suppose that 
a treaty of peace vrith less than this would ever pass that 

body."t 

Mr. Giles, of Maryland — " I ta^e it for granted, that 
we shall gain territory, and must gain territory, before we 

* Cong. Globe, 10th Dec, 1846, p. 23. 
t Cong. Globe, 6th Jan., 1847, p. 126. 
I Cong. Globe, 2d Feb.. 1847, p. 306. 



170 RLVirT\' or 'ii..'; mexkax war. 

shut the gates of the temple of Janus. We must have it. 
Every consideration of national policy calls upon us to se- 
cure it. We must march right' out from ocean to ocean. 
We must fultil what the American poet has said of us, 
from one end of this confederacy to the other, 

' The broad Pacific chafes our strand, 
We hear the wide Atlantic roar.' 
We must march from Texas straight to the Pacific 
ocean, and be bounded only by its roaring wave. We 
must admit no other government to any partition of this 
great territory. It is the destiny of the white race, it is 
the destiny of the Anglo-Saxon race ; and, if they fail to 
perform it, they will not come up to that high position 
which Providence, in his mighty government has assigned 
them."^" 

In January, 1847, a resolution was offered in the House 
of Representatives, declaring that the war " is not waged 
with a view to conquest ;" but the House was too candid 
to endorse the words of the President, and rejected the 
resolution. In the same Session, it also rejected, by a 
vote of 126 to 1Q, the following amendment proposed to 
the supply bill, viz. ; "Provided farther, that these appro- 
priations are made with no view of sanctioning any prose- 
cution of the existing war with Mexico for the acquisition 
of territory to form new States to be added to the Union, 
or for the dismemberment of Mexico." 

These disclaimers of all intention of making conquests 
came from the Whigs, who were unmeasured in their de- 
nunciations of Mr. Polk's obvious policy. 

In his next messag^e of December, 1847, that grentleman 
adroitly revenged himself upon his opponents, by remind- 
ing Congress, that only sixteen members had voted against 
the war ; and that C/ongress, including, of course, the Whig 
members with the exception of the sixteen, " could not 
* Cong. Globe, 11th Feb., 1847, p. 387. 



REVIEW OF THE MEXICAN WAR. 177 

have meant, when in May, 1846, they appropmted ten 
milUons of dollars, and iiuthorized the President to em- 
ploy the military and naval forces of the United States, 
and to accept the services of fifty thousand volunteers 
to enable him to prosecute the war ; and when at their 
last Session, and after our array had invaded Mexico, 
they made additional appropriations, and authorized the 
raising of additional troops for the same purpose — that 
no indemnity was to be obtained from Mexico at the con- 
clusion of the war." It was impossible for the Whigs to 
elude the force of this sarcasm. If the war " was not 
waged with a view to conquest," with what view did theij 
vote for an army of fifty thousand men ? 

Puerile as is the distinction made by Mr. Polk between 
conquest and territorial indemnity, it appears from his own 
showing, that it is a distinction without a difference ; a 
mere quibble on words. The President, informing Con- 
gress what territories he had claimed of Mexico as condi- 
tions of peace, remarks, " as the territory to be acquired 
by the boundary proposed, might be estimated to be of 
greater value than a fair equivalent for our just demands, 
our Commissioner was authorized to stipulate for the pay- 
ment of such additional 2^^cuniary consideration as was 
deemed reasonable." Here we see that Mr. Polk meant 
to take more territory, than he even pretends we are enti- 
tled to for indemnification. And how did he mean to ac- 
quire it ? By conquest ? Oh no, but by a forced sale, 
negotiated by a Commissioner at the head of a victorious 
army, ready to enter the city of Mexico ; and for this sur- 
plus territory he would pay such a price as he deemed 
reasonable, and, if the Mexicans refused to make the bar- 
gain on his terms, they refused at the peril of their lives, 
and the loss of their capital ; their blood was to flow, 
till they accepted, for territory to which we had no just 
claims, the price we might please to pay. 



178 ^ REVIEW OF THE .MEXICAN WAR. 



CHAPTER XXIV. 

EXTENT OF TERRITORY REQUIRED FROM MEXICO. 

We have already admitted that Mr. Polk's frequent and 
earnest asseverations of his desire for peace were sincere, 
because in his mind the term peace included the acquisi- 
tion of all the territory he wanted. The peace he desired, 
was not a just, and therefore an honorable one, but a bold, 
rapacious spoliation. If we use strong terms, it is because 
they are warranted by strong facts. After we had obtain- 
ed military occupation of the country on the Rio Grande 
and all the sea-ports on the Atlantic and Pacific ; after 
the Mexican armies had been routed in three general en- 
gagements ; after the efforts of the Mexicans had failed 
to protect their capital, and General Scott was ready to 
enter its gates, peace was again offered Mexico. In the 
time, place, and terms of this offer, we can see no indica- 
tion of generosity, no desire for justice, no feeling of 
honor. Mexico, utterly prostrated, could obviously make 
no successful resistance, and it was certainly within the 
power of the United States to take military possession not 
merely of the capital, but of every city and strong place 
in the republic. Such, however, was not the desire or 
the interest of the Administration, or of the country. To 
hold the entire of Mexico by force of arms, would occasion 
an expenditure of treasure and an imposition of taxes 
which would soon hurl Mr. Polk and his partisans from 
office. Kor would a continuance of the v/ar give us that 
quit-claim to the coveted territories Avhich was required, 



REVIEW OF THE MEXICAN WAR. 179 

to enable us to convert them with facility into slavehold- 
ing States with a representation in Congress. The object 
of the war could be most advantageously obtained by a 
treaty of peace, giving us undisputed possession of New 
Mexico and California. Hence the desire for peace ; and 
the prostrate condition of Mexico induced the hope that 
she would be compelled to make the cession we de- 
manded. And what was that cession? Why, all the 
territory between the Nueces and the Rio Grande, toge- 
ther with the whole of New Mexico, and all California, 
both Upper and Lower ! An inspection of the map of 
Mexico will show that these demands, exclusive of Texas 
proper, are estimated at upwards of eight hundred thou- 
sand square miles, while the whole area of the Repubhc 
is supposed to contain one million six hundred thousand. 
Thus did Mr. Polk seek for a "just and honorable peace" 
in the seizure of one half of Mexico !* 

Such was the territorial indemnity we attempted to 
extort from a vanquished and almost unresisting enemy. 
Napoleon, in the career of conquest, never indulged in 
wilder rapacity. Mexico, humbled and disabled, offered 
to cede all Texas proper, beyond the Nueces, and all of 
New Mexico and CaUfornia North of the SYth degree of 
latitude ; an extent of territory equal to nine States of the 
size of New York ! It is true, that in the Mexican projet 
of a treaty containing this proposed cession, there was a 
stipulation for compensation for injuries done by the Ame- 
rican troops, a mere matter of discussion, but not repre- 
sented as a sine qua nan. The negotiation was broken 
off not on account of that or other exceptionable proposals,' 
but because Mexico refused to cede the whole of New 

* These estimates are taken from an official statement of the 
areas of the different provinces, published by the Mexican 
Government, and attached to Disttirnell's map of Mexico. 



180 REVIEW OF THK MF.XI<.'.\N W A jl . 

Mexico and California. Mr. Polk, in his Message to Con- 
gress, declared, " the boundary of the Rio Grande, and 
the cession of the States of New Mexico and Upper Cali- 
fornia constituted an ultimatum which our Commissioner 
was under no cii'curastances to yield," It may seem 
strange that Mr. Polk refused to accept the proflPered ces- 
sion. The solution is easy, and will be given in the sub- 
sequent chapter. 



REVIEW OF THE MEXICAN WAR. 181 



CHAPTER XXV. 

MOTIVE FOR ACQUIRING TERRITORY. — THE WILMOT PROVISO. 

The possessions of the United States extended from the 
Atlantic to the Pacific, and from the 49th to the 30th 
degree of latitude. Independent of the thirty States, 
comprising the Federal Union, the national territories em- 
braced 1,335,398 square miles — an area equal to about 
half of all Europe. The American RepubHc, anterior to 
the Mexican war, possessed one of the largest regions in 
the world under one Government, and at the same time 
one of the most thinly inhabited. It will not, therefore, 
be pretended, that additional territory was required for 
the convenience of our population. It is said a port was 
wanted on the Pacific. The portion of Cahfornia north 
of the 37 th degree of latitude, which Mexico offered to 
cede, contains the harbor of St, Francisco, the best and 
most capacious on the Pacific. Mr. Polk had officially 
declared, that our title to the whole of Oregon was " clear 
and unquestionable ;" yet, with the consent of southern 
Senators, he suiTendered to Great Britain no less than 5° 
40' of what he insisted was territory belonging to the 
United States. Why give away northern tenitory which 
is ours, and lavish blood and treasure for the conquest of 
southern territory to which we have no title ? It was 
known, that from natural and other causes, slavery would 
be for ever excluded from the territory yielded to Great 
Britain, but would find in California and New Mexico a 
genial^oil and climate ; and that these States, when sub- 
16 



182 REVIEW OF THE MEXICAN WAR. 

divided and annexed, would give to the slaveholding inte- 
rest a predominating and resistless influence in the Federal 
Government. 

Were other proofs wanting of the real object of the 
war, it might be found in the avowals of the southern 
press: "We trust," said the Charleston Patriot, "that 
our southern representatives will remember that this is a 
SOUTHERN WAR." Said the Charleston Courier : " Every 
battle fought in Mexico, and every dollar spent there, but 
insures the acquisition of territory which must ividen the 
field of southern enterprize and j^oiver for the future. 
And the final result will be to adjust the whole balance 
of power in the Confederacy, so as to give us the control 
over the operations of the Government in all time to 
come." 

The Federal Union, a Georgia paper in the interest of 
the administration, remarked, " The W^higs of the North 
oppose the war, because its legitimate effect is, as they 
contend, the extension of southern territory, and of south- 
ern slavery. It is true, this is a war in which the South 
is more immediately interested. Its vast expenditures 
must be made within her limits. During its continuance, 
New York, the great emporium of commerce, must be 
shorn in part of her greatness. Exchange, usually in her 
favor, must now be reversed, and in favor of New Orleans, 
where the supplies are furnished for the army. Let the 
South now be true to herself, and the days of her vassal- 
age are gone, and gone for ever." 

Said the Mobile Herald : " The natural tendency of the 
slaves under our humane policy is to increase. The effect 
follows that, if we have no outlet for them, no soil to put 
them on, they will be huddled within the extreme south- 
ern limits of the Union." After showinor that insubordi- 

o 

nation, and loss of profit, would result from a too crowded 



REVIEW OF THE MEXICAN WAR. 183 

slave population, the editor proceeds, " These evils may- 
be avoided by taking new territory in the direction of 
Mexico. The profitable existence of slavery is by no 
means incompatible with a more temperate region, but it 
is incompatible with a very dense population. We need 
2)lenty of soil to render it projitahler 

As the war was waged only for territory, Mr. Polk was 
anxious to secure its object as speedily as possible ; and, 
thinking it probable that money judiciously distributed in 
Mexico might hasten the cession of California, recom- 
mended to Congress, August 8th, 1846, an appropriation 
of two millions of dollars, to be placed at his disposal, for 
the purpose of facilitating a peace. The very proposal 
utterly destroyed the pretext upon which he first justified 
the war, that it was one of defence. " Millions for de- 
fence, not a cent for tribute," was once the proud rally- 
ing cry of the Republic. Now he proposed two millions 
to buy a peace. Had it not been known that the money 
was to be employed in gaining territory, the very proposi- 
tion would have excited universal abhorrence and indigna- 
tion. A bill granting the desired sum was introduced 
into the Lower House, but to the extreme mortification 
and alarm of the administration, and the pro-slavery party, 
was passed with a proviso offered by Mr. Wilmot, exclud- 
ing slavery from all territory that might be ceded by 
Mexico. The bill was reported to the Senate on the last 
day of the Session, and, for want of time, no question wd,s 
taken upon it. At the ensuing Session, Mr. Polk asked 
for three millions for the same purpose, and a law was 
passed appropriating this sum " to enable the President 
to conclude a treaty of peace, limits and boundaries, with ' 
the Republic of Mexico, to be used by him in the event 
that said treaty, when signed by the authorized agents of 
the two Governments, and "duly rati6ed by Mexico, shall 



184 REVIEW OK THE MEXICAN WAR. 

call for the same, or any part thereof." It will be ob- 
served that the law contemplated not merely a treaty of 
peace, but of limits and boufidaries, in other words, a 
treaty ceding Cahfornia and New Mexico. The condition 
of the appropriation is unexampled in the history of diplo- 
macy. The money is to be paid not when v the treaty is 
consummated, but as soon as Mexico consents to the terms 
Mr. Polk may demand. Mr. Tyler found that a contract 
entered into by the authorized agents of two Governments, 
did not constitute a treaty without the ratification of the 
Senate ; but, in this most extraordinary law, such a ratifi- 
cation is wholly disregarded. As soon as Mexico binds 
herself to cede territory, the money is to be paid, never to 
be returned, whether the Senate reject or confirm the bar- 
gain. Never before, probably, did a civilized nation stipu- 
late to perform in advance, a condition required by an 
unratified and therefore unobligatory treaty. Viewing 
the appropriation in the least offensive light, it is an offer 
to pay the consideration money of a purchase in advance, 
whether the title-deed may prove vahd or not, with per- 
mission to retain the money, although the deed should be 
refused. There must have been some weighty reason for 
this procedure. The credit of the United States was not 
so low, that it was necessary to pay in advance. Louisi- 
ana and Florida had been purchased by treaty ; but the 
consideration money in neither case had been paid before 
the treaties were ratified. The departure in the present 
case from the ordinary course of negotiation was caused 
by the burning desire to acquire additional slave terri- 
tory. 

The war was expensive, and might prove hazardous to 
the popularity of the administmtion. Mr. Polk had no 
wish to kill Mexicans, provided they would surrender their 
lands. It w^as hoped our invasion, and the fearful array 



UEVIEW OF THE MEXICAN WAR. 185 

of fifty thousand men, Avould have instantly fiightened the 
enemy into the desired cession of her territories ; but, in 
the language of the administration presses, Mexico was 
*' mulish," was " obstinate." It was thought a large sum 
of money, judiciously distributed, might be more success- 
ful than intimidation had proved. The Mexican leaders 
were supposed to be mercenary ; the army was known to 
be necessitous. Three millions distributed amonof the 
officers and soldiers, either secretly as bribes, or openly 
under color c.f an instalment in advance for the purchase 
of territory, might induce the Mexican Congress through 
military coercion, to consent to the dismemberment of 
the Repubhc. This payment in advance of so large 
a sum, might be useful, also, in compelling the American 
Senate to ratify the treaty. If they declined, the money 
paid would be lost, and the responsibility of sacrificing the 
people's money would rest upon the Senators, who should 
dare to vote against the treaty. The attempt to re-annex 
the Wilmot proviso to this bill, and the long debate it 
occasioned, rent asunder the transparent veil with which 
the pro-slavery party had attempted to conceal the true 
object of the war, and provoked the southern members 
into unusual frankness. 

The northern Democrats had long justified the character 
given to them, of being " the natural allies" of the slave- 
holders. Anti-slavery sentiments had recently made rapid 
progress at the north, and the tone of the elections in 
various States, warned them that their devotion to slavery, 
was undermining their own power. The grant of three , 
milHons, afforded them an opportunity of strengthening • 
their waning popularity at home, without, as they con- 
tended, dissolving an alliance, from which they had 
derived so many pecuniary and political advantages. As 
Democrats, they were bound to support the war, and 
16* 



186 REVIEW OF THE MEXICAN WAR. 

to give the President the appropriation lie had asked for. 
But to this appropriation, they attached the Wilmot pro- 
viso. This noAv famous proviso* was in these terms : " Pro- 
vided always, that there shall be neither slavery nor invo- 
luntary servitude, in any territory on the continent of 
America, w^hich shall hereafter be acquired by or annexed 
to the United States by virtue of this appropriation, or in 
any other manner whatsoever, except for crimes w^hereof 
the party shall have been duly convicted." To this was 
added a provision for the return of fugitive slaves found 
in such territory. In this attempt to prevent the exten- 
sion of slaver}?-, the northern Democrats endeavored to 
shelter themselves from the reproaches of their southern 
friends by calling their proposal " the Thomas Jefferson 
proviso,"* its language being copied from the ordinance 
for the Government of the North-Western territory, orig- 
inally drafted by Mr. Jefferson, in 1784.f The northern 
Whigs gave the proviso their cordial support. It may, how- 
ever, be asked with what propriety they could vote for an 
appropriation even with the proviso, which they themselves 
contended, was to be used for the purposes of bribery and 
corruption. To this question they gave a far more satisfac- 
tory answer, than they ever returned to the question why 
they voted for a war which they denounced as iniquitous. 
Mr. Stewart of Pennsylvania, thus ably vindicated the policy 
and duty of voting for the appropriation with the proviso : 
" As a friend of peace, present and prospective, I am in 
favor of this proviso. The object of this war being the 
acquisition of southei-n territory, as long as there is a hope 
of accomplishing this object, there will be no peace. Put 
an end to this hope ; and you at once put an end to the 
war, by defeating its object. The moment the President 
finds this proviso accompanying this grant of money, he 

* Speech of Mr. Brinkerhoff, Feb. 10, 1847. Cong. Globe. 
t See Journal of Congress, April 19, 1784. 



REVIEW OF THE MEXICAN WAR. 187 

will be for making peace, and so will all the South. They 
want no restricted territory. If the restriction is imposed, 
and the territory acquired is to be free, from that moment 
the President would pay Mexico to keep her territory, 
rather than bring it in on such conditions. I am for the 
proviso, therefore, because it will bring us peace. Im- 
pose this restriction, and Mr. Polk will say he wants no 
territory, the South will say ihey want none; we say, 
agreed, we want none. Then, if Mexico is to lose no 
territory, she will be for peace ; and, if we are to acquire 
none, what are we fighting for ? Then impose this 
restriction, and the war will be promptly ended to the 
great benefit and joy of both Republics." 

The avowals of southern members, the messages of 
southern Governors, the action of southern Legislatures, 
and the language held by slaveholders assembled in 
popular meetings, all bear witness to the wisdom, foresight, 
and truth, of Mr. Stewart's remarks. 

The alarm and irritation of the south caused by the 
introduction of the proviso, was greatly augmented by 
the circumstance of its orig-inatino: with the northern 
democracy ; with that party which had heretofore cheer- 
fully sacrificed the right of petition, and the freedom of 
debate, and had consented to the annexation of Texas, 
through subserviency to southern interests. The slave- 
holders felt that they were now in their utmost need 
deserted by the friends, who had hitherto professed devo- 
tion to their cause.* In their exasperation they, for the 

* In 1843, Mr. Buclianan, Senator from Pennsylvania, opposed 
the ratification of the treaty with Great Britain settling tlie 
North-East boundary, because it did not provide compensation 
for certain slaves liberated in the West Indies. He remarked : 
" All Christendom is leagued against the South, upon the ques- 
tion of domestic slavery. They have no other allies to sustain 
their constitutional rights, except the democracy of the 
NORTH. In my own State, we inscribe upon our party banners 
hostility to abolition. It is there one of the cardinal principles 
of the democratic party." 



188 RE^EW OF THE MEXICAN WAR. 

first time, avowed the real object of the war to be, the 
conquest of territory for the extension of slavery. 
I ,/ Mr. Seddon, of Virginia, declared the proviso a " gross 
and offensive proposition, outraging the whole scope and 
spirit of the Constitution. The South never would, never 
could 2'>'^osecute conquests which were to be made the in- 
struments of direct attack upon her institutions. She 
never would acquiesce in the acquisition of territory from 
which her sons, with their property, were to be wholly 
excluded. In contrast with the effects of that law (the 
proviso), the question of the prosecution of the war, of the 
acquisition of the most extensive territories, shrinks into 
insignificance. It is to involve the momentous issue of the 
Union of these States." 

Mr. Dargan, of Alabama, was exceedingly frank : 
" Say to the South that they are only fighting to make 
FREE TERRITORY, that it is 07ihj for this that the brave 
men of Carolina, Georgia, and Alabama, are periling their 
lives ; and they will demand the settlement of this ques- 
tion now, preliminary to any further prosecution of the war." 

Said Mr. Leake, of Virginia : " If the present attempt 
to impose limitation with respect to the extension of 
slavery should be persisted in, and should prevail, the 
South must stand in self-defence ; for they could not and 
w^ould not submit to it." 

Mr. TiBBATTS, of Kentucky, was equally frank with Mr. 
Dargan : " If the people of the South are to be told that 
in acquiring territory, for which their blood is to be spilled 
and their treasures expended, they are realizing benefits 
for others in which they are to have no share, and that 
they are, in effect, to be excluded from territory which 
their own blood and treasure have helped to win, then I 
am against keeping one foot of Mexican territory — I am 
opposed to carrying on this war on such terms." 



REVIEW OF THE MEXICAN WAR. 189 

Mr. Calhoun, in great excitement, exclaimed : '* I am 
a Southern man and a slaveliolder, a kind and merciful 
one I trust, and none the worse for being a slaveholder. 
I say for one I would rather meet any extremity upon 
earth than give up one inch of our equality — one inch of 
what belongs to us as members of this great Republic. 
What ! acknowledge our inferiority ! The surrender of 
life is nothing to sinking down into acknowledged infer- 
iority." 

Yet this kind and merciful slaveholder had devoted the 
energies of his life to keeping in acknowledged inferiority, 
ignorance, and degradation, millions of his fellow-men and 
fellow-countrymen, and was at this very moment opposing 
an effort to prevent immense regions being peopled with 
beasts of burden in human form. 

Mr. Bagby, of Alabama, averred, " If the time should 
Wcome when this principle was to be acted upon, that no 
more territory was to be acquired lest Southern institu- 
tions should exist in such territory, he would say. Away 
WITH THE Union." This gentleman, the more effectually 
to secure the object of the war, introduced into the Senate 
a resolution declaring that, " If territory is hereafter ac- 
quired by the United States, either by treaty or conquest, 
it shall not be competent for the treaty-making power or 
Congress to exclude slavery from such territory, either 
by treaty, stipulation, or by act of Congress." 

Mr, Butler, of South Carolina, " Would, before God, 
warn gentlemen, if the South was to be regarded and 
treated with inequality, they would tear up the instru- 
ment (the Constitution) to which they had subscribed in 
good faith." 

Mr. Kauffman, of Texas, declared " Should the pro- 
posed amendment be adopted, all hopes of acquiring ter- 
ritory in that qtiarter are gone for ever. The South would 



190 REVIEW OF THE MEXICAN WAR. 

never consent, under such a state of things, to add any 
territory to what we now possess." 

Mr. Thompson, of MississiJDpi, denouncing the proviso, 
afiQrmed that its passage would be the dissolution of 
THE Union. 

Mr. Mangum, of I^Torth Carohna : " There are now 
three milHons of slaves penned up in the slave States, and 
they are an increasing population, increasing faster than 
the whites. And are the slaves to be always ccmjined to 
their prison States ?" 

Thus we find from their own avowals that the acquisi- 
tion of SLAVE TERRITORY was the siue qua non on which 
the slaveholders would continue the war ; and that for 
such acquisition they were ready, if necessary, to dissolve 
the Union. Hence, the honor of the nation, the griev- 
ances of the claimants, the shedding of American blood 
upon American soil, were hollow, and false pretexts for the 
war, its true and sole object being the extension of human 
bondage. 

To the confessions of the slaveholders may be added 
the following decisive testimony of General Cass, then a 
member of the Senate, given in a private letter of 19th 
February, 1847, but which found its way into the news- 
papers : " The Wilmot Proviso will not pass the Senate. 
It would be death to the war — death to all hopes of get- 
ting an awe of territory — death to the Administration, 
and death to the Democratic party." 

The reference made by the slaveholders to the Missouri 
compromise, and their alleged willingness to apply that 
compromise to the conquered territories, utterly stultified 
their argument against the constitutionality of the Proviso. 
If Congress had a right to exclude Slavery from territory 
purchased of France, and conquered from Mexico, north 
of 36° 30, they had surely an equal right to exclude it 



REVIEW OF THE MEXICAN WAR. 191 

from every part of New Mexico and California. By the 
Constitution, Congress is constituted the Legislature of 
the territories, and of course possesses the same power 
over slavery in them, that a State legislatuie does within 
its own jurisdiction. 

The bill appropriating three millions of dollars was, 
after a severe struggle, carried in the House of Represent- 
atives, with the Proviso, by 115 to 106. In the Senate, 
the Proviso was stricken out 31 to 21. The whole in- 
fluence of the Government, and all the appliances of party 
discipline, were now put in requisition to induce the House 
to concur with the Senate, and the Proviso was finally 
rejected, 102 to 97. It will be observed that the total 
vote on the adoption of the Proviso was 221, and on its 
rejection 199. Of course no less than 22 members found 
it convenient to be absent at this important crisis, and 
SIX who had supported the Proviso found motives for 
changing their votes. 

The Proviso had indeed been rejected for the present, 
but it might be renewed at the next session ; and, even 
should it fail in the Senate, yet a treaty, ceding an im- 
mense territory to be consecrated to slavery, might not 
command in that body the vote of two-thirds necessary 
to its ratification. The very possibility of thus losing the 
prize for which the war was commenced, exasperated and 
alarmed the South, and vigorous efforts were made to 
induce the North to abandon the position it had taken in 
behalf of human liberty, by the usual threats of dissolv- 
ing the Union, and by appeals to the interests of selfish 
pohticians. Many of the governors of the slaveholding 
States brought the subject before their respective Legis- 
latures. The Governor of Virginia, in his Message, re- 
marked that it was " unquestionably true that, if our 
slaves icere restricted to our present limits, they would 



]^92 KKV^^W OF THE MEXICAN WAR. 

greatly diminish in value, and thus seriously impair the 
fortunes of their owners. The South never can consent 
to be confined to prescribed litoits. She wants and must 
have space, if consistent with honor and propriety." 

The Governor of South Carolina objected to the re- 
striction as tending to diminish the pohtical influence of 
the South, in the Federal Government, and insisted on 
strenuous resistance. The Legislature of Virginia, setting 
at defiance the power of Congress, "Resolved unani- 
mously, that under no circumstances will this body 
recognize, as binding, any enactment of the Federal Gov- 
ernment which has for its object the prohibition of slavery, 
in any territory, to be acquired either by conquest or 
treaty." The Legislature of Georgia resolved, " That any 
territory acquired by the arms of the United States, or 
by treaty with a foreign power, becomes the common 
property of the several States composing this confede- 
racy ; and whilst it so continues, it is the right of each 
citizen of each and every State, to reside with his pro- 
perty of every description, wuthin such territory." 

The Legislature of Alabama " Resolved, That under 
no circumstances will this body recognize as binding, any 
enactment of the Federal Government which has for its 
object the prohibition of slavery in any territory, to be 
acquired either by conquest or treaty, sotith of the line of 
the Missouri comiyromise.^^ 

A public meeting in Richmond, Virginia, declared not 
only the right of slaveholders to carry their slaves into 
all territories hereafter to be acquired south of 36° 30', 
"but also that we will, by all peaceable means, and 
this failing, by arms, if necessary, sustain such of our 
fellow- citizens as may elect to settle within such ter- 
ritory hereafter acquired, in the maintenance of their 
rights thus to settle, and take with them their slaves." 



REVIEW OF THE MEXICAN WAR. 193 

A meeting in Charleston, S. C, declared it would be dis- 
honorable and debasing to submit to the prohibition of 
slavery, " beyond what is already yielded hy the Missouri 
compromise." 

But it was not enough to threaten the North with a 
dissolution of the union, and with civil war. These are 
evils which, when they occur, will not fall exclusively 
upon the people of the free States. It was thought ad- 
visable to threaten the politicians of the North with the 
loss of political power and emolument — a menace far more 
influential than any other. A Presidential election was 
approaching, and northern aspirants were warned that no 
opponent to the extension of slavery should receive the 
votes of the South. A similar warning had secured the 
annexation of Texas, and the election of Mr. Polk. 

The Legislature of Georgia " Resolved, that the people 
of Georgia, at the ensuing Presidential election, should 
not and will not support any man for the Presidency or 
Vice-Presidency, who favors the principle of the Wilmot 
proviso.'' The determination thus officially announced, 
was reiterated by various meetings and on various occa- 
sions, and had a sensible and immediate effect in cooling 
the zeal of northern politicians in behalf of the proviso. 
General Taylor was a cotton planter, and the owner of 
numerous slaves ; and the popularity he had acquired by 
his victories, pointed him out as a most available southern 
candidate. He was accordingly early nominated, and his 
interests were so thoroughly identified with slavery, that 
it was deemed unnecessary to demand from him any 
pledge of opposition to the Wilmot proviso. Said the 
Richmond Whig : — " Why ask pledges of him on the- 
subject of slavery, when the fact that his whole estate 
consists of land and negroes, and that when they go, he 
17 



,194 REVIEW OF THE MEXICAN WAR. 

must be a beggar, is the very strongest pledge he could 
possibly give ?" 

The frankness and determination of the southern Whigs 
left to their northern brethern the alternative of uniting 
with them in raising General Taylor to the Presidency, 
or of resigning to their political opponents the favors of 
official patronage. They adopted the former, and Gene- 
ral Taylor received the nomination of the party. 

The northern Democrats claimed a candidate selected 
from among themselves. The claim was allowed by their 
southern brethren, on condition of a satisfactory pledge 
against the Wilmot proviso. Four prominent northern 
Democrats entered the hsts, to bid against each other for 
the votes of the slaveholders. General Cass's bid was 
accepted, and he Avas duly nominated, having declared 
the proviso unconstitutional. 

Notwithstanding the hostility of the South to the pro- 
viso, they anticipated the possibility of being compelled 
lo yield to the North, so far as to renew the Missouri 
compromise, and to consent to the exclusion of slavery 
north of 36° 30' — and here we find a solution of Mr. 
Polk's rejection of the cession proposed by Mexico. 
Great and valuable as was that cession, it was chiefly 
north of the compromise hne, leaving space for scarcely 
more than two slave States. The territory offered was 
not far enough south to secure the object of the war, and 
hostilities were to be continued for conquests, below the 
Missoiiri line. 

In August, 1847, negotiations were opened for peace, 
, and Mr. Trist was appointed by the President to conduct 
. them on the part of the United States. The Mexican 
. Commissioners were instructed to procure a stipulation, 
, by which " The United States shall engage not to permit 
slavery in that part of the territory which they may ac- 



REVIEW OF THE MEXICAN WAR. 195 

quire by treaty." It is to be presumed that Mr. Trist 
was well acquainted with the views of the Cabinet at 
Washington, on this subject. In an official despatch to 
the Secretary of State, of 4th September, 1847, he thus 
describes his conference with the Mexican Commissioners, 
on this point of their instructions : — " In the course of 
their remarks on this subject (exclusion of slavery), I 
was told that, if it were proposed to the people of the 
United States to part with a portion of their territory, in 
order that the inquisition should be therein established, 
the proposal could not excite stronger feeUngs of abhor- 
rence than those awakened in Mexico, by the prospect of 
the introduction of slavery in any territory parted with by 
her. 

" I concluded by assuring them that the hare mention of 
the subject in any treaty to which the United States was 
a party, was an absolute impossibility : that no President 
of the United States would dare to present any such 
treaty to the Senate ; and that, if it were in their power to 
offer me the whole territory described in our project, in- 
creased ten-fold in value, and in addition to that, covered 
afoot thick all over with pure gold, upon the single con- 
dition THAT SLAVERY SHOULD BE EXCLUDED therefrom, I 

could not entertain the offer for a moment, nor think even 
of communicating it to Washington." 



196 mmil^W OF THE MEXICAN WAR. 



CHAPTER XXVI. 

UNWORTHY EXPEDIENTS FOR FACILITATING CONQUESTS. 

General Santa Anna had been one of the ablest and 
most popular of the Mexican chieftains. A political 
revolution had deprived him of power, and driven him 
into exile — and he had taken refuge in Havana. Shortly 
before the commencement of hostilities, an officer of the 
United States navy was despatched to that city. The 
object of his mission has not been officially disclosed ; but 
it was asserted in the newspapers, and generally believed, 
that it was to confer with the Mexican General. An 
American squadron, in anticipation of the war, had for 
some time been stationed oflF Vera Cruz, and the very day 
war was declared, *' private and confidential"* orders were 
sent to the commander not to obstruct the return of 
Santa Anna to Mexico. The distinguished exile, it was 
well-known, had wrongs to resent ; and it was no doubt 
taken for granted, and perhaps expressly stipulated, that, 
being indebted to Mr. Polk for the opportunity of wreak- 
ing his vengeance, he would foment an insurrection, kindle 
the flames of civil war, recover his former power, and 
exercise it in concluding a peace with the United States, 

* " United States Navy Department, 
May l^th, 1846. 
'* Commodore. — ^If Santa Anna endeavors to enter the Mexican 
ports, you will allow him to pass freely. 

" Respectfully youra, 

" GEORGE BANCROFT.'* 
". Commodore David Conner, 
Commanding Home Squadron." 



REVIEW OF THE MEXICAN WAR. 197 

by the cession of California. He did return through 
favor of Mr. Polk's order, '^ and, as was expected, effected 
a revolution, and assumed the reins of Government ; and, 
by his wonderful energy and perseverance in behalf of 
his country, rebuked the artifice of the American Presi- 
dent. 

To aid in fomenting the civil dissensions which, it was 
hoped, would result from Santa Anna's sudden appear- 
ance in Mexico, General Taylor was required to distribute 
a proclamation prepared for him at Washington. In this 
strange document, the General is made to tell the 
Mexicans, " Your Government is in the hands of tyrants 
and usurpers. They have abolished your State Govern- 
ments ; they have overthrown your Federal Constitution ; 
they have deprived you of the right of suffrage, destroyed 
the Hbert}'^ of the press, despoiled you of your arms, and 
reduced you to a state of absolute dependence upon the 
power of a military dictator. We come to obtain indem- 
nity for the past, and security for the future. We come to 
overthroio the tyrants who have destroyed your liberties, but 
we come to make no war upon the people of Mexico, nor 
upon any form of free Government they may choose for 
themselves. It is our wish to see you liberated from 
despots, to drive back the savage Camanches, to prevent 
the renewal of their assaults, and to compel them to restore 
to you from captivity your long-lost wives and children .^" 
Not satisfied with forcing General Taylor to distribute this 
mendacious proclamation as his own act, he was expressly 
instructed (9th July, 1846), to pursue a course of deceit 
and fraud. He was directed by the Secretary of War, 
" to take occasions to send officers to the head-quarters of 
the enemy for the military purposes real or ostensible 

* Commodore Conner announcing to the Secretary of the 
Navy the arrival of Santa Anna at Vera Cruz, added: "I 
have allowed him to enter without molestation." 
17* 



198 REVIEW OF THE MEXICAN WAR. 

which are of ordinary occurrence between armies, and in 
which opportunity may be taken to speak of the war 
itself as only carried on to obtain justice, and that we had 
much rather procure that by negotiation than by fight- 
ing." Here, we may observe, is an awkward admission, 
that the war is not a defensive but an aggressive one. 
Again : " A discreet officer who understands Spanish, and 
who can be employed in the intercourse so usual between 
armies, can be your confidential agent on such occasions, 
and can mask his real under his ostensible object of 
a military interview. You will readily comprehend 
that in a country so divided into races, classes, and 
parties as Mexico is, and with so many local divisions 
among individuals, there must be great room for operating 
on the minds and feelings of large portions of the inhabit- 
ants, and inducing them to wish success to our invasion, 
which has no desire to injure their country, and which, in 
overthrowing their oppressors, may benefit themselves. 
Between the Spaniards, who monopolize the wealth and 
power of the country, and the mixed Indian race who 
bear its burdens, there must be jealousy and animosity. 
The same feelings must exist between the the lower and 
higher orders of the clergy, the latter of whom have the 
dignities and revenues, while the former have poverty and 
labor. In all this field of division, in all these elements 
of social, political, personal and local discord, there must 
be openings to reach the interests, passions, or principles, 
of some of the parties, and thereby conciliate their good 
will, and make them co-operators with us in bringing about 
an honorable and a speedy peace. The management of 
these delicate 77iovements, are confided to your discretion." 

There is no evidence that General Taylor ever engaged 
in these " deUcate movements." He bravely fought the 



REVIEW OF THE MEXICAN WAR. 199 

Mexicans ; but there is no reason to believe that he ever 
condescended to corrupt them. 

It was very true that Mr. Polk would rather acquire 
territory by negotiation than by fighting; and hence 
it was his aim to disqualify the Mexicans from fighting, by 
promoting treason and rebellion ; and hence Taylor was 
instructed to encourage the departments to declare them- 
selves independent of the central Government. Hence 
also Commodore Sloat was instructed (June 8th, 1846), 
" to encourage the people of that region (California), to 
enter into relations of amity with our country." Hence, 
General Kearney, four days after entering Santa Fe, 
informed the inhabitants by proclamation (2 2d August, 
1846), that it was the " wiph and intention of the United 
States, to provide for New Mexico a free Government, 
with the least possible delay, similar to those in the United 
States." He moreover required those who had in loyalty 
to their country " left their homes, and taken arms 
against the troops of tlie United States, to return forth- 
with to them, or else they will be considered as enemies 
and TRAITORS, subjecting their persons to punishment, and 
their property to seizure and confiscation." But these 
Mexicans who were to be punished as traitors for resisting 
the invaders of their soil, owed the same allegiance to 
their Government, as the General did to his. To remove 
this difficulty, the Brigadier assumed the prerogative once 
exercised by the Papal See, " The undersigned," con- 
tinued the proclamation, "hereby absolves all persons 
residing within the boundary of New Mexico, from all 
fm'ther allegiance to the Republic of Mexico, and hereby 
CLAIMS them as citizens of the United States." 

The absolution and the claim were of equal validity. 
The General had been instructed to establish a tempo- 
rary civil Government, " therein abolishing all arbitrary re- 



200 REVIEW OF THE MEXICAN WAR. 

strictions" and well knowing the ultimate purpose for which 
his conquest wa^ made, he ordained that the right of 
suffrage in New Mexico, should be exercised by " every 
free male,'' thus preparing the inhabitants for the arbitra- 
ry restrictions of the peculiar institution to be hereafter 
introduced. From Santa F6, this gentleman proceeded 
to California, and there again assumed the powers of the 
Roman Pontiff and the American Congress. Addressing 
the Californians in a proclamation of 1st March, 184Y, he 
declares : " The undersigned, by these presents, absolves 
all the inhabitants of California, of any further allegiance 
to the Repubhc of Mexico, and regards them as citizens 
OF THE United States." Not content with wielding the 
attributes of ecclesiastical and civil sovereignty, he 
assumes those of a prophet : " The stars and stripes now 
float over California ; and, as long as the sun shall shed 
his light, they will continue to wave over her, and over 
the natives of the country, and over those who shall seek 
a domicile in her bosom ; and under the protection of this 
flag, agriculture must advance, and the arts and sciences 
will flourish Hke seed in a fertile soil. Americans and 
Californians, from henceforth one people." 



REVIEW OF THE MEXICAN WAR. 201 



CHAPTER XXVII. 

CONDUCT OF AMERICAN OFFICERS IN MEXICO. 

War, being always waged for the immediate purpose of 
inflicting misery and death, necessarily calls into action 
the malignant passions of our nature. It is impossible 
that those who are contriving the ruin and death of their 
enemies, should exercise towards them that love, and kind- 
ness, and forgiveness enjoined by Christianity. Hence the 
profession of arms has a strong tendency to blunt the sen- 
sibilities of the soldier, and to render him callous to the 
sufferings of his victim. Military glory, which is the prize 
that stimulates the ambition of the soldier, founded, as it 
is upon his bravery, skill, and success in destroying his 
enemy, and totally disconnected from all reference to the 
justice of the cause in which his victories are achieved — 
has necessarily an unhappy influence in perverting the 
moral sense. In those qualities which twine the laurel 
around the brows of the warrior, there is no one element 
of moral goodness ; nothing which has not been often ex- 
hibited by the most depraved of mankind. It has been 
well said, that when the soldier has vigorously assaulted 
the enemy, when though repulsed he returns to the con- 
flict, when being wounded he continues to brandish his 
sword till his grasp relaxes in death, and he falls on the 
field " covered with glory," he has attained to the moral 
rank of a bull-dog. Hence the thirst for military fame, 
by diverting the mind from the contemplation and pursuit 
of objects really virtuous, renders the soldier peculiarly 



202 ^£\'IF .W OF THE MEXICAN WAR. 

exposed to the allurements of vice. His ordinary life, 
moreover, is on various accounts unfavorable to the culti- 
vation of those benevolent and virtuous affections which 
adorn and bless society. Banished from the softening 
and humanizing influences of domestic associations, exiled 
from wife and children, v>^ithout other occupations than 
the monotonous routine of the camp or the barrack, and 
with no companions but such as are subjected to similar 
privations, both his mind and his heart are left without 
wholesome aliment. It is true that the army has had its 
saints ; some good men have passed through its furnace 
without the smell of fire on their garments, but the at- 
tention excited by their wonderful deliverance attests the 
greatness of the peril they escaped. 

The officers of an army are, with few exceptions, far su- 
perior in education and refinement to the privates, and are 
therefore rarely guilty of that vulgar motiveless ferocity 
which too often marks the conduct of the common sol- 
dier. Nevertheless, it would be unreasonable to expect, 
that their education and refinement should generally shield 
their hearts from the indurating influence of their pro- 
fession. 

The foregoing remarks are, it is believed, founded on 
the acknowledged principles of human nature ; they are 
most abundantly verified by all military history ; and the 
conduct to which we will now call the attention of the 
reader, proves that they are applicable to American, as 
well as to other armies. 

During the horrible bombardment of Vera Cruz, and 
after a day of indiscriminate slaughter of men, women, 
and children, the French, Spanish, and English Consuls in 
the city, addressed on the evening of the 24th March, 
' 1847, a joint note to General Scott asking a suspension 
of hostilities for a time " sufficient to enable their respec- 



REVIEW OF THE MEXICAN WAR. 203 

live compatriots to leave the place with their women and 
children, as well as the Mexican women and children." 
How far the emergency of the case justified this applica- 
tion, may be learned from the report of the chief of the 
artillery, made the same evening to the General — " We 
have been restrained from the want of shells from throw- 
ing more than one every five minutes during the day f' he 
adds that a full supply would be sent to the batteries that 
night for the ensuing day. The next day the 25th, Gene- 
ral Scott sent to the consuls a peremptory refusal of 
their request — the neutrals might have left the place 
previous to the bombardment ; and as to the Mexican 
women and children, his summons to the city had been 
disregarded, and now no truce would be allowed apart 
from surrender. Some excuse for this stern denial of 
mercy to foreigners, and to innocent women and children, 
might have been found if the capture of the city would 
have been hazarded by the intermission for a few hours of 
the fiery deluge which was overwhelming it. But Scott 
well knew that he had it in his power to reduce the whole 
city to one mass of ruins. So also, had a reinforcement 
of Mexicans been approaching, a motive would have exist- 
ed for compelling a surrender before their arrival ; but 
the beleaguered city had no hopes of relief, and the posi- 
tion and force of the American army precluded the possi- 
bility of succor. Scott's army, moreover, were so safely 
ensconced in their entrenchments, that he had no reason 
to fear, that the boon that was asked would prove inju- 
rious to the assailants ; since in his operations against the 
castle and city, his total loss, out of 10,000 men, did not 
exceed sixty-five killed and wounded. Before replying 
to the Consuls, he wrote to the Secretary of War the same 
day, "all the batteries are in awful activity this 
morning. The effect is no doubt very great, and I think 



204 WNJi^ OF THE MEXICAN WAR. 

the city cannot hold out beyond to-day.'' Hence, by his 

own confession, and by the fact that the city did surren- 
der on the 26th, the slaughter of women and children oc- 
casioned by the awful activity of his batteries during the 
whole of the 25th, there being then a " full supply" of 
shells, was utterly unnecessary. To the horrors of this 
bombardment we may advert hereafter, and at present 
only offer the following as a commentary on General 
Scott's refusal : " I heard a great many lieart-rending 
tales which were told by the survivors with breaking- 
hearts ; but I have neither the inchnation nor the time 
to repeat them. One, however, I will name. A French 
family were quietly seated in their parlor the evening 
(night of the 25th), previous to the hoisting the white flag, 
when a shell from one of our mortars penetrated the 
building, and exploded in the room, killing the mother 
AND FOUR CHILDREN, and wouuding the residue."* 

Truly, indeed, said Sir Harry Smith, in a speech at a 
late military dinner in London, " It must be confessed, 
gentlemen, that ours is a damnable profession." 

The refusal of General Taylor to accede to the request 
of the Mexican General for an armistice, before he knew 
that either Government had recognized the war he had 
commenced, has been already mentioned. During the 
attack on Monterey, the Governor sent a flag of truce to 
the General, stating that " thousands of victims who, from 
indigence and want, find themselves now in the theatre of 
war, and who would be uselessly sacrificed, claim the rights 
which, in all times and in all countries, humanity extends." 
He asked that orders might be given that families might 
be respected, or else that a reasonable time might be 
granted them to leave the city. The General refused to 
permit any to leave the city ; and, however much we may 

* Letter published in the Alton Telegraph. 



REVIEW OF THE MEXICAN WAR. 205 

lament his decision, it must be acknowledged, that owing 
to the circumstances in which he was placed, his refusal is 
not open to the same animadversions as that of Scott. 

It is an impulse of our nature to regard scenes of suf- 
fering and of cruelty with aversion ; but war, by the im- 
portance it attaches to victory, renders such scenes sources 
of pleasure, when their subjects are enemies. General 
Lane, in his despatch (22d October, 184Y), thus describes 
his night attack upon Allixco : " I ordered the artillery 
to be posted on a hill near the town, and overlooking it, 
and open its fire. Now ensued one of the most beautiful 
sights conceivable. Every gun was served with the utmost 
rapidity, and the crash of the walls and the roofs of the 
houses when struck by our shot and shells, was mingled 
with the roar of our artillery. The bright light of the 
moon enabled us to direct our shots to the most thickly 
populated part of the town." 

This beautiful scene, so gratifying to the taste of Gene- 
ral Lane, was most horrible to the inhabitants of this httle 
town. The morning sun beheld, amid the ruined dwel- 
lings and encumbered streets, two hundred and nineteen 
mangled corpses, while three hundred of its men, women, 
and children, were suffering from wounds. "After 
searching the next morning," says the General, with won- 
derful coolness, " for arms and ammunition, and disposing 
of what was found, I commenced my return." As he 
makes no other allusion to the result of his search, we in- 
fer he had no reason to be proud of the trophies acquired 
by this beautiful moonlight massacre. 

Several of the general orders, issued by American offi- 
cers in Mexico, are palpably unjust, and exhibit a painful 
disregard for human life. Of this nature is the following 
given by Colonel Gates at Tarapico, Nov. 29, 1847 : "As 
the guerilleros or armed enemies are employed by orders 
IS 



206 .^^lEW OF THE MEXICAN WAR. 

to rob all persons who may be engaged in the lawful pur- 
pose of trading with the inhabitants of this town, instnic- 
tions have been given to all officers of the United States 
army or navy within this department, to take or kill every 
person of that character found so employed against the 
peace of the community." Tarapico was occupied by a 
detachment of the invading army. For Mexicans to sup- 
ply the place, while so occupied, with provisions and 
the necessaries of Ufe, would indeed be doing what Mr. 
Polk charged upon the Whigs, " giving aid and comfort to 
the enemy." The guerillas, or armed mihtia, had there- 
fore a perfect light by the laws of war to seize and con- 
fiscate all supplies on their way to the enemy. It was 
doing no more than was constantly done by the Ameri- 
cans in the Revolution, when their cities were occupied by 
the invader. These " armed enemies" might indeed be 
killed in battle ; but Colonel Gates's order has no refer- 
ence to fighting. In the plenitude of his power, he gives 
every naval and military officer the option of capturing or 
slaying any armed Mexican who may be found attempting 
to intercept suppUes for Tampico. 

Unhappily the conduct of Colonel Gates was sanctioned 
by high authority. The Commander-in-Chief, seated in 
the conquered Capital of the Republic, issued an order on 
the 12th December, 1847, which adds no honor to his 
character as a man or a soldier. The baggage trains of 
the army had often been attacked by guerillas, in the long 
route between Vera Cruz and the city of Mexico, and 
the General now attempted to keep open his communica- 
tioij, with Vera Cruz, from which place alone he could 
receive ammunition, &c., by a system of severity towards 
those who had scarcely any other method left of annoying 
the invaders. The preamble to his order betrays not only 
his object, out his consciousness that some apologj was 



REVIEW OF THE MEXICAN WAR. 207 

needed for his sanguinary decree. " The highways used, 
or about to be used by the American troops, being still 
infested in many parts by those atrocious bands called 
guerillas and rancheros Avho, under instructions from the 
late Mexican authorities, continue to violate every rule of 
warfare observed by civilized nations, it has become neces- 
sary to announce to all, the views and instructions of 
General Head Quarters on the subject." We are. then 
informed, " No quarter will be given to known murderers 
or robbers, whether guerillas or rancheros, and whether 
serving under Mexican commissions or not." Offenders of 
this character " accidentally falling into the hands of Ame- 
rican troops, will be momentarily held as prisoners, that 
is, not put to death without due solemnity." This due 
solemnity is to be the sentence of three or more officers 
who are to sentence to death or lashes, on proof that the 
prisoner belonged to any gang of murderers or robbers, 
or had murdered or robbed any one belonging to or fol- 
lowing the American army. By murder, is here obviously 
meant, killing any of the guard accompanying a baggage 
train, and by robbery, carrying away any property belong- 
to the enemies of Mexico. 

The vigor displayed in these orders by " General Head 
Quarters" was far surpassed by one of his subalterns. 
Colonel Hughes, civil and military Governor of Jalapa, on 
the 10th December, 1847, issued the following order, viz: 
** All persons who may in any way attempt to prevent 
supplies from reaching this port, will be sent to a mihtary 
Commission for trial, and if convicted of that offence, will 
be SHOT." Here we find a capital offence which is not 
alleged to be either robbery or murder. Any Mexican, 
priest or layman, who by persuasion or force, or in any 
other way, attempts to prevent his countrymen from com- 
mitting the crime of furnishing supplies to the enemy, is to 



208 R&^li^V OF THE MEXICAN WAR. 

be SHOT — to be put to death in cool blood bv American 
soldiers, at the command of an American officer! We 
greatly doubt whether the history of modern warfare re- 
cords an order so utterly at variance with the plainest dic- 
tates of patriotism, justice, and humanity. 

We now turn to another melancholy but forcible illus- 
tration of the remarks in the commencement of this chap- 
ter. A large number of Irish emigrants to the United 
States bore arms in the invading army. These men were, 
of course, mere mercenaries. They fought, as others of 
their countrymen have labored on our canals and rail- 
roads, for money. They knew and cared nothing about 
the claims of " our much-injured citizens,'' nor did they 
trouble themselves about '' our western boundary." On 
reaching Mexico, they discovered that they had been hired 
by heretics to slaughter brethren of their own church. 
The Mexicans, moreover, pubhshed appeals addressed 
directly to their consciences, in which was set forth, in 
strong language, the sin they were committing in fighting 
against men who had never injured them, and who were 
united with them in a common faith ; and liberal offers 
were made of land and money, if they would abandon the 
American standard. A portion of the emigrants accepted 
the invitation ; and it is reasonable to suppose that they 
were influenced both by religious and by pecuniary mo- 
tives. Upwards of fifty of these men were taken prisoners 
in battle. They had unquestionably committed a crime in 
violating their pledged faith, and by the ordinary rules of 
war, were justly liable to punishment, A few of these 
men escaped death on account of some technical objec- 
tions, and a few others on account of some unspecified 
mitigating circumstances ; but a general order of the 22d 
of September, 1847, contained the appalHng announce- 
ment : " After every effort of the General-in-Chief to save. 



REVIEW OF THE MEXICAN WAR. 209 

by judicious disf;rimination, as many of these miserable con- 
victs as possible, fifty of them have paid for their trea- 
chery by an ignominious death upon the gallows." 

We have here a most extraordinary confession. The 
Commander of a victorious army acknowledges his inability 
to rescue from death one of these fifty men. Instances 
have occurred of whole regiments going over to the enemy 
on the field of battle. In such a case would General Scott 
feel himself ccrnstrained to hang a thousand men, if again in 
his power ? Was he ignorant, that where large numbers 
had rendered themselves amenable to punishment, where 
policy demanded an example, and whei-e humtmity forbade 
a general slaughter, others had resorted to decimation and 
the lot ? The death of five or ten of these men, and the 
corporal punishment of the rest, would have answered the 
sternest demands of military policy. It seems that the 
execution of thirty out of the fifty was intrusted to a 
Colonel Harney. According to the newspapers, he had 
them brought out with halters around their necks, and 
arranged them under one common gibbet in sight of 
the Mexican fortress of Chepultepec, which the American 
troops were about to storm. He then told them that they 
should live till they saw the American flag raised upon 
the battlements. The fortress was carried, the flag at 
last appeared, and the doomed men expired. This act of 
Harney's has been characterized by a foreign writer, as *'a 
refinement of cruelty, and a fiendish prolongation at once 
of the ecstacies of revenge and the agonies of despair." 

Desertion is a crime which, in military ethics, it is law- 
ful for each party to encourage and reward in the other, 
but to denounce as atrocious, and to punish with death, 
when committed against itself. General Scott, in his' 
orders, spoke of the Irish deserters as " deluded wretches 
— miserable convicts." Says the correspondent of the 
18* 



210 ^^IttVIEW OF THE MEXICAN WAR. 



New Orleans Picayune, " The clergy of San Angel 
pleaded hard to save the lives of these men, but in vain. 
General Twiggs told them that to Ampudia, Arista, and 
Santa Anna did these men owe their deaths, for they 
stooped to the low business of soliciting desertion from 
our ranks, and had succeeded in seducing from duty and 
allegiance the poor wretches who had to pay so dearly 
for their crimes." This was in September. On the 13th 
of the next month, we have an official despatch to General 
Scott, from Colonel Childs, dated at Puebla, in which he 
says, " I should be unjust to myself, and the Spy Com- 
pany under Captain Pedro Aria, if I did not call the 
attention of the General-in-Chief to their invaluable ser- 
vices. From them I received the most accurate informa- 
tion of the movements of the enemy, and the designs of 
the citizens ; through them I was enabled to apprehend 
several officers and citizens in their nightly meetings, to 
consummate their plans for raising the populace. The 
Spy Company /ow^/ti gallantly, and are now so compro- 
mised, that they must leave the country when our army 
retires." Says the New Orleans Picayune, " The Mexi- 
can Spy Company is described as a rough-looking set of 
men. They fight with ropes about their necks, as the 
saying is, and therefore they fight gallantly. We under- 
stand that we have altogether about 450 of this descrip- 
tion of men in our pay." Thus it appears, we had in our 
army a corps of Mexican scoundrels — and, as the news- 
papers state, organized and taken into pay by order of 
General Scott himself. These men joined the invaders of 
their native land — betrayed their fellow-citizens into the 
hands of a foreign enemy — went with tliat enemy into the 
battle, and gallantly aided them in slaughtering their 
neighbors and countrymen, and all this for pay ! " They 
fight with ropes about their necks." Should any of them 



REVIEW OF THE MEXICAN WAR. 211 

be hereafter suspended by these ropes, may they not 
be told that they owe their death to the General, who 
*' stooped to the low business of seducing them from duty 
and allegiance?" Fifty Irish deserters are hanged as 
miserable convicts ; but a gang of 450 Mexican spies, 
traitors, and murderers, are recommended by an American 
Colonel to the attention of the Commander-in-Chief, for 
their *' invaluable services." Such are the honor and mo- 
rality of war. 

In May, 1848, during the armistice, and while negoti- 
ations for peace were pending, a party of American 
officers and soldiers, ten in number, were arrested for 
the crime of burglary and murder, committed in the city 
of Mexico. It was probably owing to the peculiarly dis- 
graceful character of the outrage, and its perpetration 
during a suspension of hostilities, that it was deemed ex- 
pedient to institute a judicial inquiry. Four lieutenants, 
two corporals, and one private were tried and convicted 
by a court-martial, and sentenced to be hung. A fifth 
officer " belonging to one of the old infantry regiments," 
is said to have been implicated in the affair, but he eluded 
arrest. On the conclusion of the peace, all the culprits 
were pardoned by the commanding officer, and set at 
liberty. It is not surprising that so large an assembly of 
men as an army, should include some thieves and murder- 
ers. This case is important only because, with multitudes 
of others, it tends to dispel the popular illusion, that there 
is some mysterious undefined connection between gallantry 
and honor, and that a brave soldier must be both honest 
and merciful. One of these four officers was, it seems, a 
graduate of the West Point military academy ; and of 
another, a newspaper says, ** It is a fact worthy of notice, 
that Lieutenant Hare was one of the most valiant spirits 
of the army, during * the battles of the valley,' and that 



212 -"-^^^VIEW OF THE MEXICAN WAR. 

on account of his unconquerable courage, he was selected 
by the commanding oflEicer to command one of the ' forlorn 
hopes,' at the storming of the Castle of Chapultepec. 
He was allowed to select fifteen men to accompany him. 
and out of these fifteen, only five escaped the deadly fire 
of the enemy ; and the Lieutenant conducted himself 
throughout with the utmost coolness and high-toned 
courage." And yet his brother-ofl[icers who composed the 
court- martial, adjudged him to be a thief and a mur- 
derer. 



REVIEW OF THE MEXICAN WAR. 213 



CHAPTER XXVIIL 

tHE AMERICAN ARMY IX MEXICO. 

The remarks already made respecting the general im- 
moral tendency of the military profession, are of course 
more peculiarly applicable to the rank and file of an 
army. A prudent, intelligent, industrious, pious recruit 
is a prodigy. The great mass of all armies, it is well 
known, is collected from the ignorant, reckless, and 
vicious. When such men are brought into close contact 
with each other, and at the same time removed from the 
restraining influences of domestic life and social observa- 
tion, their vicious propensities are of course strengthened 
by mutual example and countenance. Discipline may 
prevent the commission of some gross crimes, but can in 
no degree improve, or even guard the moral character. 

If it be, indeed, true, that the profession of a soldier is 
peculiarly hazardous to his well-being, exposing him and 
those within his influence, to crime in this world, and to 
misery in the next, we discover a new item of the awful 
responsibility which rests upon those who involve their 
country in war. In our contest with Mexico, 80,000 or 
more Americans, and probably three times as many Mexi- 
cans, have been exposed to the moral and physical inju- 
ries of military service. Could we follow the survivors 
on their return to their homes, what a mass of wretched- 
ness should we discover, caused by the habits they had 
acquired, and the moral contamination of their example. 
All experience bears witness to the fidelity of the picture 
drawn long since, of the discharged recruit, who 



214 REVIEW OF THE MEXICAN "WAR. 



" His three years of heroship expired. 

Returns indignant to the slighted plough. 
He hates the field in which no fife or drum 
Attends him ; — drives his cattle to a march, 
And sighs for the smart comrades he has left. 
'Twere well, if his external change were all ; 
But with his clumsy port, the wretch has lost 
His ignorance and harmless manners too. 
To swear, to game, to drink, to show at home 
By lewdness, idleness, and Sabbath-breach, 
The great proficiency he has made abroad : 
To astonish and to grieve his gazing friends ; 
Td break some maiden's and his mother's heart- 
To be a pest, where he was useful once, 
Are his sole aim, and all his glory now." 

There is little reason for believing that Amencan 
soldiers are more or less addicted than others to vice 
and outrage. The conduct of the soldier is governed 
more by discipline than by national character. A large 
portion of the American force in Mexico consisted of a 
class improperly called volunteers, since, where there is no 
conscription, every enlistment is voluntary. These volun- 
teers, being enlisted for a short period, and being permit- 
ted to choose their officers, their discipline was probably 
less perfect than that of the regular army ; and hence it 
is, that the journals of the day have teemed with accounts 
of their atrocities. 

Of the 50,000 volunteers called into service, none per- 
haps have afforded a more instructive commentary oa 
military patriotism and morality than the Massachusetts 
Regiment. These men belonged to a State surpassed by 
none for the intelligence, industry, and orderly deport- 
ment of its citizens. They had, moreover, responded tc 
the official assurance of the Governor of the State, that if 
was the dictate of patriotism and humanity to save blood 



REVIEW OF THE MEXICAN WAR. 215 

and money by volunteering to shoot Mexicans.* Passing 
by, therefore, the conduct of volunteers from other States, 
we shall confine our notice to these reputed descendants 
of the Puritans.f Although nothing has been heard of 
their martial achievements, a few extracts from the jour- 
nals of the day will prove that they have attracted a 
large share of the public attention. 

" For some days past, a strife has existed between a 
portion of the officers of the Massachusetts Regiment 
on the one side, and nearly all the privates on the other. 
That eternal disturber of order, John Barleycorn, ' stirred 
up the muss.' The officers alleged that the privates 
drank to intoxication, became disorderly and unfit for 
duty; and to put a stop to the evil, they advised closing 
the coffee-houses. The privates, on the other hand, say 
they drank to no greater excess than did the officers in 
question. The war thus commenced waged fiercely with 
various success. At one time, we thought the men de- 
feated, from the number of prisoners we saw marched 
off; but they managed to escape, and in turn swung up 
the leader of their enemies as high as Haman — i. e., his 
effigy. The guards were dismissed from the postern, the 
defences put up to keep out the Mexicans levelled to the 
earth, and the deuce played generally." — Metamoras Flag. 

*' Major Abbott, by sundry acts, has made himself 

* "Whatever," says the Proclamation calling for volunteers, 
" may be the difference of opiniorf as to the origin or necessity 
of the war, the constitutional authorities of the country have 
declared that war with a foreign country does exist. It is alike 
the dictate of patriotism and humanity, that every means 
honorable to ourselves and just to our enemy should be employ- 
ed to bring said war to a speedy and successful termination, 
and thus abbreviate its calamities and save the sacrifi'e of human life 
and the wasting of p'ltblic treasures. " The best comment we 
can make on the logic and morality of this gubernatorial dictum 
is to exhibit the character of the men who obeyed the dictates of 
patriotism and humanity, as officially explained. 

t The author deems it just to say, that he has heard it assert- 
ed that many of these volunteers were foreigners. 



216 ^ REVIEW OF THE MEXICAN WAR. 



odious among the Americans in this place. They hoot 
him whenever he passes them, and last night they went 
so far as to hang him in effigy. He had three privates 
whipped last night.'' — Letter from Metamoras, N". 0. Bee, 

" Escaped. — The Massachusetts Volunteer, who 
some week or two since stabbed to death with a bayonet 
the partner of Mr. Sinclair of our city, because he refused 
to give him what he had not — a glass of intoxicating fluid 
— escaped from the guard-house a few nights since. It 
is thought the sentinels on duty permitted him to escape." 
— Metamoras Flag. 

Another paper mentions that three Massachusetts 
Volunteers had deserted, and a fourth had been march- 
ed through the streets of Metamoras encased in a whisky 
cask with the word " drunkard" written on it. 

The New Orleans Delta announces the arrival at that 
city of " a select lot of murderers, thieves, and villains of 
every dye," sent home by order of General Taylor, includ- 
ing " three Massachusetts Volunteers." 

" Another Manly Act. — On Wednesday evening last, 
after nightfall, several Massachusetts Volunteers enter- 
ed the dwelling of a Mexican near the Upper Plaza, and 
demanded whisky. A female who officiated remarked 
that she kept nothing but beer. After some remonstrance, 
one of the gentlemen drew a bayonet, which he wore in 
his belt, and stabbed the woman to the heart." — Meta^ 
tnoras Flag. 

It appears from the report of the Secretary of War,* 
that the deserters from this regiment, up to 31st Dec, 
1847, numbered 105. 

" Head Quarters, Vera Cruz, 15th October, 1846. 

*' The following named men (sixty-Jive in number) of 
1st Regiment Massachusetts Infantry, being incorrigibly 

* Ex. Doc, 1st Sess., 30th Cong., No. 62, p. 72. 



REVIEW OF IHE MEXICAN WAR. 21 7 

mutinous and insubordinate, will of course prove cowards 
in the hour of danger, and they cannot of course be per- 
mitted to march with the column of the army. They are 
disarmed and detached from the Regiment, and will re^ 
port to Brevet Major Bachus, for such duty in the Castle 
of San Juan De Ulloa, as may be performed by soldiers 
who are found unworthy to carry arms, and are a dis- 
grace and a nuisance to the army. 

" By order of Brig. Gen, Gushing." 

The following notices of these men, on their return, are 
taken from the periodicals of the day. A Boston paper 
says: "More than one-third of these, though never in a 
battle, were dead or missing before their return." The 
Editor of the Buffalo Commercial Advertiser, through 
which city they passed, says : " We spent some hours in 
conversation with these poor fellows, endeavoring to un- 
derstand the meaning of such overwhelming squalor, 
want, and misery ; for we do not exaggerate when we 
say, that we never beheld its parallel except at the Irish 
emigrant sheds in Canada last summer. The condition of 
these poor creatures was outrageously offensive to every 
human sense, as well physical as moral.'^ Another editor, 
after their arrival in Boston, remarked : " A more pitiable 
set of human beings we scarcely ever saw — with unshaven 
beards, unshorn hair, ragged and dirty clothes of all 
shapes, fashions, colors, and conditions, pale and sunken 
faces, and a careless, unambitious saunter. They were 
truly objects of pity." A Boston editor, after visiting 
their quarters, exclaims : *• We must confess that the 
condition of the men touch us with astonishment ; it was 
wretched beyond condition. Rags and dirt were to be 
seen in abundance. Scarcely a man had a whole pair of 
pantaloons on, and none a second shirt. Without any 
19 



218 ,^REVIEW OF THE MEXICAN WAR. 



offence to the soldiers, we must candidly confess, they are 
not fit to be seen in the streets of Boston." 

To form a comprehensive view of the evils of war, and 
of the tremendous responsibility of those who commence 
it, we must consider its various and complicated assaults 
upon human happiness and virtue. The miseries we have 
inflicted upon Mexico will form the subject of a future 
chapter. We will now advert to the retributive justice 
thus far meted out to the immediate agents by whom 
those miseries have been inflicted. 

The groans of the conquerors themselves are usually 
drowned in the shouts of victory, and the glare of the 
illumination fails to reveal the horrors of the battle-field, 
or the more prolonged agonies of the hospital. Eighty 
thousand American soldiers, abandoning the comforts of 
home and the pursuits of ordinary hfe, have been sub- 
jected to all the privations, sufferings, and evil influences 
of military service in a foreign land. When we recollect 
their long marches, some of them of a thousand miles 
under a burning sun, and not unfrequently exposed to the 
deadly vomito, we may readily believe that many lives 
have been lost through disease and casualties as well as 
in battle. Owing to the imbecility and ignorance of the 
Mexicans, the American loss in the field has been aston- 
ishingly small, not exceeding 5000 in killed and wounded 
in twenty-eight battles, as appears from official reports. 
But who can count the number who have died in military 
hospitals, and of others who, worn down by disease and 
vice, have found a premature grave in their own country ? 
From very partial reports from some of our military hos- 
pitals in Mexico, it appears that the deaths exceed those 
that occurred on the field of battle. 

A i^ew Orleans paper, noticing the return of the Ten- 
nessee Regiment to that city, remarks : " Just one year 



REVIEW OF THE MEXICAN WAR. 219 

ago there passed through our streets as noble and splen- 
did a body of men as ever went forth to battle. They 
were about nine hundred strong. On Friday last, the 
whole of this gallant regiment arrived in our city. It 
numbers just three hundred and jifUj — about one-third 
the force with which it left ; and this loss it has sustained 
in a twelve months' campaign ! It has lost on an average 
fifty men a-month." 

Of the Second Regiment of Mississippi Rifles, one hun- 
dred and sixty-seven died of disease. Said Mr. Hudson 
in Congress : " Our late associate, Colonel Baker, declared 
in his speech on this floor, that of his regiment about one 
hundred had left their bones in the Valley of the Rio 
Grande, and that about two hundred more, worn down 
by hardships, and emaciated by disease, had been dis- 
missed to perish by the way, or to find their graves with 
their friends at home ; that all this mortality had taken 
place in about six months, and that this regiment had 
never seen the foe. He also informed us, that what was 
true of his regiment was generally true of other regiments 
of volunteers. We are informed by the answer of the 
Adjutant- General to a resolution of this House, that in a 
period of from sixty to ninety days after the volunteers 
had joined the army in the field, their numbers Were re- 
duced by disease six hundred and thirty-seven, and by 
discharges, in consequence of sickness and disability, be- 
tween two and three thousand. This estimate does not 
include the sick which remain with the army.'' * 

" I call the attention of this body and of the country to 
the immense sacrifice of human fife now making to carry 
on this war. The ofiicial documents before us show that 
twenty-three thousand nine hundred and ninety-eight- 

* Speech, Feb. 13, 1847, App. to Cong. Globe, p. 369. 



220 ^REVIEW OF THE MEXICAN WAR. 



officers and men entered the service during the first 
eight months of this war ; that fifteen thousand four hun- 
dred and eighty-six remained in service at the close of 
that time; that three hundred and thirty-one had de- 
serted ; that two thousand two hundred and two had 
been discharged, leaving five thousand nine hundred 
AND NINETEEN uuaccounted for."* 

The Rev. Mr. McCarty, a chaplain in the army, wrote 
from the city of Mexico: "I have now in the regular 
army eleven hospitals to visit, with one in the Quarter- 
master's department, which requires a great deal of ray 
time. The number on the sick report in this city exceeds 
three thousand men !" ** We all know," said Mr. R. John- 
son in the Senate, " that at the commencement of the last 
Session of Congress, there were actually buried on the 
banks of the Rio Grande, of those who had died of 
disease, twenty-five hundred men."t Col. Childs, in his 
official report, 13th Oct., 1847, states that on taking com- 
mand of Puebla, the hospitals were "filled with 1,800 
sick." A New Orleans paper, noticing the return of the 
8d and 4th Tennessee regiments, says that they lost 360 
by death, although neither regiment had been in action. 
The same paper declares, that of 419 men composing the 
Georgia battalion, 220 died in Mexico. 

We could fill sheets with extracts from the public jour- 
nals, giving mournful details of the ravages of disease in 
our Mexican army. Let the following from a southern 
paper, and an advocate for the war, suffice. ** At Perote 
there were 2,600 American graves, all victims of disease, 
and at the city of Mexico the deaths were most of the 
time 1,000 a- month. The first regiment that went out 
from Mississippi buried 155 men on the banks of the Rio 

* Speech of Mr. Giddings, Feb. 3, 1847. Cong. Globe, p. 405 

t Cong. Globe, Dec. 30, 1847. 



REVIEW OF THE MEXICAN WAR. 221 

Grande before it went into battle, and finally brought back 
less than half of its number. Two regiments from Penn- 
sylvania went out 1,800 strong, and came home with 
about 600. Two regiments from Tennessee without be- 
ing in any battle, lost 300 men. Capt. Naylor, of Penn- 
sylvania, took down a company of 104 men, and brought 
back IT. He went into the battle of Contreras with 33, 
and came out of it with 19. But the most frightful in- 
stance of mortality was in the Georgia battalion. It went 
to Mexico 419 strong ; about 230 actually died ; a large 
number were discharged with ruined constitutions, many 
of them doubtless gone long since to their graves, and 
thus the battahon was reduced to 34 men fit for duty ! 
On one parade when a certain company, once mustering 
more than 100 men, was called, the call was answered by 
a single private, its only living representative. From offi- 
cers of many other regiments we have received details 
very similar to the above, which may be taken as a pretty 
fair average of the losses in the volunteer regiments — the 
regulars did not suffer to the same extent." 
/ Mr. Clay in a public speech, estimated the loss of our 
/ countrymen in the first eighteen months of the war as 
I equal to one half the whole loss sustained in our seven 
I years' revolutionary struggle ! 

\ Mr. Calhoun declared on the floor of Congress that 
the mortality of our troops could not be less than twenty 
per cent. 

If then we estimate the total mortahty of our troops 
including those slain and such as afterwards died of their 
wounds, and those who have expired in Mexico and at 
home of diseases contracted in camp, at twenty thou- 
sand, we shall be in little danger of exaggerating the. 
amount. If we next turn our regards to the wives and 
children and relatives of these twenty thousand, we find 
19* 



229 REVIEW OF THE MEXICAN WAR. 



a still expanding multitude upon whom the war has 
brought lamentation and woe. 

Once more follow in imagination the survivors, on their 
return home. Mark the genninating seeds of moral and 
physical disease implanted by war in their constitutions, 
and about to bear bitter and deadly fmits. 

In that approaching day when the Judge of quick and 
dead shall make inquisition for blood, those who have kin- 
dled the flames of war, will be called to justify the num- 
berless and immeasurable evils both spiritual and tempo- 
ral they have inflicted upon their fellow-men, upon their 
enemies as well as upon their own countrymen. 



REVIEW OF THE MEXICAN WAR. 223 



CHAPTER XXIX. 

SUFFERINGS INFLICTED ON MEXICO BY THE WAR. 

The extreme feebleness of Mexico, arising from the igno- 
rance and superstition of her inhabitants^ was aggravated 
by the vast extent of her territories. This great extent, 
by rendering it difficult to collect a formidable force at 
any extreme point, rendered her whole frontier accessible 
to the invader. In about four months after the com- 
mencement of hostilities northern Mexico, from Tampico 
on the Atlantic to St. Diego on the Pacific, was a con- 
quered country. 

The smallness of the forces by which the various con- 
quests were effected, attests the helplessness of the Mexi- 
cans, and the vigor of their enemies. In a httle more 
than twelve months, the American standard waved over 
the famous castle of Vei*a Cruz, and the capital of the 
Repubhc was garrisoned by American troops. From 
that capital a corps of one thousand men could probably 
have traversed the Republic in every direction, through a 
hostile, but almost unresisting population. After the cap- 
ture of Thornton's party, which General Taylor announced 
as the commencement of hostilities, not a battle, not a 
skirmish occurred in which the Mexicans were not de- 
feated, no matter how vast their superiority in numbers. 
The ancient promise, " ten shall chase a thousand," seem- 
ed to be verified in the marvellous success of the Ameri- 
can arms.'^' In ordinary cases, an invading army is neces-. 

* In the battle of Brazito, the American force under Col. 
Doniphan was less than five hundred ; that of the enemy, 1200 



224 REVIEW OF THE MEXICAN WAR. 

sarily confineoTo a narrow track, and is restrained by fear 
of the enemy from dividing itself into detachments. But 
the unhappy Mexicans found the invaders spreading them- 
selves over the country in every direction, and small par- 
ties taking possession of populous towns. We may easily 
imagine the innumerable and horrible insults and excesses 
endured by the Mexicans, from a victorious and scornful 
enemy, conscious alike of his power and his impunity, and 
far removed from the restraint, however feeble, of public 
opinion. 

Unaware of the vast superiority of their enemy in all 
the dread machinery of war, the Mexicans unhappily ha- 
zarded the bombardment of Vera Cruz. Three thousand 
shells, each weighing ninety pounds were, it is said, thrown 
into that devoted city, besides about the same number of 
round shot. For more than three days did this horrible 
tempest beat upon Vera Cruz. "The darkness of the 
night was illuminated with the blazing shells circling 
through the air. The roar of artillery, and the heavy fall 
of descending shot, were heard through the streets of the 

The Americans lost not a single man, and had but seven "slightly 
wounded ; the Mexicans were utterly routed, with a loss of 193 
killed and wounded. 

The result of the battle of Sacramento is thus described in an 
official report : " The first shadows cast bv the moon, found the 
American army camped upon the battle-field, after having in a 
contest of four hours annihilated a force six times their number, 
and driven the enemy from four positions of great natural 
strength, fortified by thirty-six forts and redoubts, having 
taken fonr times their strength in artillery, the whole trans- 
portation, food, and ammunition of the Mexicans, and performed 
a march of twenty miles without water." Col. Doniphan tells 
us, " The field was literally covered with the dead and wounded 
from our artillery, and the unerring fire of our riflemen. Night 
put a stop to the carnage." The Mexicans had nineteen pieces 
of cannon, and were sheltered by forts and redoubts, while the 
Americans advanced to the attack on an open plain. The vic- 
tors, in a fight of four hours, had one man killed, and eight 
wounded. Triumphs over such enemies, afford little cause for 
military pride. 



REVIEW OF THE MEXICAN WAR. 225 

besieged city. The roofs of buildings were on fire, the 
domes of churches reverberated with fearful explo- 
sions." 

This splendid scene, and the consequences accompany- 
ing it, must have been viewed with high satisfaction, by 

" The foe to all happiness human." 

An officer of the navy, in an account written a few days 
after, says : " The bombardment lasted three days and a 
half. The city was greatly injured, the shells and round 
shot striking all over the town. One part near a small 
battery was utterly destroyed ; and from the stench in the 
neighborhood, it is to be feared that the bodies of very 
many poor women and children, are buried in the ruins. 
I was in the Governor's palace, a very fine building, 
occupying one side of the Plaza, and was looking into a 
very handsome room where it was evident a shell had 
struck, when a Mexican gentleman came up and offered to 
show me over the house. I followed him, and directly we 
came to what had evidently been a superb room, but then 
almost entirely torn to pieces. He pointed to a place 
beside the door which was blown out — " there," said he, 
" sat a lady and her two children, they were killed by the 
shell which has wrought the injury you see." 

Another officer says, that during the bombardment, 
" many of our officers at night crawled up close to the 
walls to hear, and represented the screeching, crying, and 
lament of the women and children, and wounded, as 
being dreadful." 

A visitor, immediately after the surrender, tells us : " A 
shell struck the Charity Hospital where the sick inmate^ 
were lying, and killed twenty-three." Says Mr. Kendall, 
an eye-witness : " The city, or at least the northerp part 
of it, has been torn all to pieces — the destruction i; 



226 REVIEW OF THE MEXICAN WAR, 



dreadful. tN* impossible to get at the loss of the Mexi- 
cans by the bombardment ; yet it is certain that women, 
childi'en, and non-combatants, have suffered the most. 
The National Palace on the Plaza, had five shells burst 
within it ; one of v/hich, kiikd a woman and two children 
lying asleep in the kitchen." 

" I rode to the town," says another writer, " to see 
what effect our shells had on it. I was prepared to see 
much destruction, but was perfectly amazed. The town 
is on its south-westerly side almost destroyed. The 
citizens of Vera Cruz say, the bombs did the most 
injury. They would fall on the houses, their weight 
carrying them from roof to cellar, and then burst, opening 
the houses from top to bottom, and killing all within." 

Mr. Hine, thus describes his visit, the day of the sur- 
render. " Scarcely a house did I pass, that did not show 
some great rent made by the bursting of our bomb-shells. 
During my peregrinations, I came to a lofty and noble 
mansion in which a terrible bomb had exploded, and laid 
the whole front of the house in ruins. While I was exam- 
ining the awful havoc created, a beautiful girl of some 
seventeen came to the door, and invited me into the 
liouse. She pointed to the furniture of the mansion torn 
into fragments, and the piles of rubbish lying around, and 
informed me, while her beautiful eyes filled with tears, 
that the bomb had destroyed her father, mother, bi'other, 
and two little sisters, and that she was now left in the 
world alone I 

" During the afternoon, I,>'isited the hospital. Here 
lay upon truckle-beds, the mangled creatures who had 
been wounded during the bombardment. In one corner 
was a poor decrepid, bed-ridden woman, her head white 
with the sorrows of seventy years. One of her Avithered 
arms had been blown off by a fragment of a shell. In 



REVIEW OF THE MEXICAN WAR. 227 

another place might be seen mangled creatures of both 
sexes, bruised and disfigured by the falling of the houses, 
and the bursting of shells. On the stone floor lay a little 
child in a complete state of nudity, with one of its poor 
legs cut oflf just above the knee ! Not even this abode of 
wretchedness had been exempted from the accursed 
scourge of war. A bomb had descended through the 
roof, and, after landing on the floor, exploded, sending 
some twenty already mangled wretches, to the " ' sleep that 
knows no waking.' " 

The following is an extract from a Mexican account, 
written amid the ruins of the city. " The enemy, in 
accordance with his character, selected a barbarous mode 
of assassinating the unoffending and defenceless citizens, 
by a bombardment of the city in the most horrible man- 
ner, throwing into it four thousand one hundred bombs, 
and an innumerable number of balls of the largest size ; 
directing his shots to the powder magazine, to the quarter 
of hospitals of charity, to the hospitals for the wounded, 
and to the points he set on fire, where it was believed the 
public authorities would assemble with persons to put it 
out ; to the baker's houses designated by their chimneys, 
and during the night raining over the entire city, bombs, 
whose height was perfectly graduated with the time of 
explosion, that they might ignite in falling, and thus cause 
the maximum of destruction. His first victims were 
women and children, followed by whole families, perishing 
from the eff'ects of the explosions, or under the ruins of 
their dwellings. !» 

" At the second day of the bombardment, we were 
without bread or meat, reduced to a ration of beans, eaten 
at midnight beneath a shower of fire. By this time, all 
the buildings from La Mercede to the Paeraguia, were 
reduced to ashes, and the impassable streets filled with 



228 REVIEW OF THE MEXICAN WAR. 

ruins and pr8ji»tiles. The third day the enemy alteraately 
scattered their shot, and now every spot was a place of 
danger. The principal bake-houses no longer existed — 
no provisions were to be had." 

The details we have given of this bombardment, afford 
us some intimations of the sufferings occasioned by the 
assaults upon the cities of Monterey and Mexico.* We 
enter into no particulars of the battles fought in Mexico. 
Every battle-field is necessarily one of horrors ; but, as 
the sufferers are those who came there to inflict upon 
others the very fate of which they are themselves the 
victims, they claim and excite less of our sympathy than 
the mothers and their mangled infants of Vera Cruz, 
whose shrieks of agony swelled the triumphal shout 
which greeted the American General. 

In all our conflicts in Mexico, the slaughter of the 
enemy has been tremendously aggravated, by their natural 
and mihtary imbecility. Mr. Thompson, our former 
Minister, in his work on Mexico, remarks: "I do not 
think that the Mexican men have much more strength 
than our women. They are generally of diminutive 
stature, and wholly unaccustomed to labor or exercise of 
any sort. What must be the murderous inequality be- 
tween a corps of American cavalry, and an equal number 
of Mexicans ?" He regards the superiority of Americans 
to Mexicans as " five to one at least in individual combats, 
and more than twice that in battle." Hence it is, that 
the Mexican loss in battle has been prodigious. It is 

* A letter from a Mexican pubnshed in the newspapers, says : 
" In some cases whole blocks were destroyed, and a great number 
of ■niQn,toomen,and ckildren, 'kllQ^ and wounded. The picture 
was awful. One deafening roar filled our ears — one cloud of 
smoke met our eyes, now and then filled with flame ; and amid 
it all, we could hear the shrieks of the wounded and dying. 
Altogether, we cannot count our killed, wounded, and missing, 
at less than four thousand, among whom are many women and 
children." 



REVIEW OP THE MEXICAN WAR. 229 

impossible to ascertain the amount of that loss with any 
precision, but there is little hazard in asserting that the 
action of Congress in May, 1846, has consigned fifty 
thousand Mexicans to a premature gravCy and ten times 
that number to poverty and wretchedness. 

In the vast number of falsehoods of which this war has 
been so prolific, may be included the general unqualified 
eulogiums passed by its advocates upon the hnmanity of 
the American soldiery. We are not aware of any peculiar 
trait in our national character, that would render our sol- 
diers remarkable for meekness and forbearance, or that 
would necessarily counteract that arrogance and selfishness 
which are the natural fruits of a bloody trade, and of mili- 
taiy superiority. But national vanity is ever ready to 
beheve a flattering lie, and demagogues equally ready to 
oflFer incense to every popular delusion. It is our object 
to tell the truth, and by so doing, to exhibit the odious and 
execrable character of war. American soldiers are like 
other soldiers, just what war, and discipline or the want 
of it, may make them. Human nature is the same in 
every land, and its evil propensities are equally developed 
under similar circumstances. It would have been an 
anomaly in the history of mankind, if soldiers, flushed 
with victory and scattered over a conquered country, and 
holding the vanquished in utter contempt, had not been 
guilty of great atrocities. It would be but cumbering 
our pages to detail the various instances of cruelty and 
oppression perpetrated by our troops, which have found 
their way into the public prints. A few specimens, selected 
from journals supporting the war, and therefore not dis- 
posed to throw unjust odium on the American army, will 
sufiice to prove that our assertions on this point are not 
unsupported by facts : 

" Buena Vista, August 20. — A ranger is missed, search 
20 



230 REVIEW OF TJIE MEXICAN WAR, 



is made JtoPlfcm by his comrades, his body is perhaps 
found, perhaps not. The nearest Mexicans to the vicinity 
of his disappearance are required to account for him. 
They will not, or cannot. The bowie knife is called for, 
and deliberately every maie Mexican in that rancho is 
speedily done for, guilty or not guilty. But this is not 
enough to make an offset for the life of a Texan. Another 
rancho receives the fearful visit, and again blood iiows." 

" Camargo, January 8, 1847. — Assassinations, riots, 
robberies, &c., are so frequent that they do not excite 
much attention. Nine-tenths of the Americans here think 
it a meritorious act to kill or rob a Mexican." 

In Camp, Walnut Sjyrings {near Monterey), April 25, 
184Y. — "You have published accounts of the disgraceful 
outrage perpetrated before the battle of Buena Vista, and 
will be no less shocked to learn that an equally sickening 
scene of outrageous barbarity has been perpetrated in 
this region by persons calling themselves Americans. It 
appears that near a little town called Guadaloupe, an 
American was shot two or three weeks ago ; and his com- 
panions and friends determined to revenge his death. Ac- 
cordingly a party of a dozen or twenty men visited the 
place and deliberately murdered twenty-four Mexicans.'' 

The correspondent of the Louisville Bejmblican writ- 
ing from Aqua Nueva, after mentioning that the body of 
a murdered Arkansas volunteer had been found, says^ 
"The Arkansas men vowed vengeance deep and sure. 
Yesterday morning a number of them, some thirty pei-sons, 
went to the foot of the mountain two miles off, to an arrego 
which is washed in the sides of the mountain, to which the 
* pisanos* of Aqua Nueva had fled upon our approach, and 
soon commenced an indiscriminate and bloody massacre of 
the poor creatures who had thus fled to the mountains and 
fastnesses for security. A number of our regiment being 



REVIEW OF THE MEXICAN WAR. 231 

out of camp, I proposed to Colonel Bissell to mount our 
horses and ride to the scene of carnage, where I knew 
from the dark intimations of the night before, that blood 
was running freely. We had turned out as rapidly as 
possible, but owing to the thick chapperels, the work of 
death was over before we reached the horrible scene, and 
the perpetrators were returning to the camp glutted with 
revenge. God knows how many of the unarmed peasantry 
have been sacrificed to atone for the blood of poor Col- 
quit. The Arkansas regiment say not less than thirty 
have been killed." 

This anonymous account of the massacre is sustained by 
the following order of General Taylor : — "The Command- 
ing General regrets most deeply that circumstances again 
impose upon him the duty of issuing orders upon the 
subject of marauding and maltreating the Mexicans. Such 
deeds as have recently been perpetrated by a portion of 
the Arkansas cavalry cast indelible disgrace upon our 
arms, and the reputation of our country. The General 
had hoped that he might be able, in a short time, to re- 
sume offensive operations ; but if orders, discipline, and 
all the dictates of humanity are set at defiance, it is vain 
to expect anything but disaster and defeat. The men 
who cowardly put to death unoffending Mexicans are not 
those who will sustain the honor of our arms in the day 
of trial." 

If the General meant to intimate that cruelty and 
bravery are incompatible, he is contradicted by the unani- 
mous testimony of all military history. 

The correspondent of the Charleston Mercury, writing 
from Monterey after its capture, says, "As at Metamoras, 
murder, robbery, and rape, were committed in the broad 
light of day ; and, as if desirous to signalize themselves at 
Monterey by some new act of atrocity they burned many 



232 REVIEW OF THE MEXICAN WAR, 

of the thatciie^ll«ts of the poor peasants. It is thought 
that more than one hundred of the inhabitants were mur- 
dered in cold blood." 

It is not to be supposed that where human life is thus 
atrociously sacrificed with impunity, the decencies of so- 
ciety and the rights of property will be respected. A 
correspondent of the New Orleans Picayune writes from 
Ceralvo : " On arriving at Mier, we learned that the 
second regiment of Indiana Troops had committed, the 
day before, outrages against the citizens of the most dis- 
graceful character, steaUng, or rather robbing, insulting 
the women, breaking into houses, and other feats of similar 
character. Recently the people here have received treat- 
ment from men stationed here, that negroes in a state of 
insurrection would hardly be guilty of. The women have 
been repeatedly violated (almost an every day affair), 
houses broken open, and insults of every kind have been 
offered to those whom we were bound to protect." 

The correspondent of the >S'^. Louis Republican, writing 
from Santa Fe, Aug. 12, 1846, says, "I regret to say, 
nearly the whole territory has been subject to violence, 
outrage, and oppression, by the volunteer soldiery against 
all alike without distinction." 

When we reflect how extensively Mexico has been 
traversed by our troops, we cannot doubt that a prodigious 
amount of property has been most wantonly destroyed. 
We are told by one of the letters describing a Mexican 
defeat, " Captain Morier followed up his advantage with 
decision, pursued the enemy, and devastated the valley of 
the Moro, burning everything in his path. The people, 
terrified, fled to the mountains where death in the shape 
of starvation awaits them." " Between Metamoras and 
Monterey," says another, " nearly all the ranchos and 
towns are destroyed." 



REVIEW OF THE MEXICAN WAR. 233 

General Scott, Avhen about marching from Jalapa, 
upon Mexico, issued an order which is a singular ilhis- 
tration of inihtary morahty. He tells his army that it 
can no longer receive supplies from Vera Cruz, but must 
trust for them to the resources of the country — that the 
people must be paid for provisions, or " they will with- 
hold, conceal, or destroy them. The people moreover 
must be concihated, soothed and well-treated by every 
officer and man of this army, and by its followers." This 
preamble is succeeded by a declaration almost avowedly 
prompted by the fact, that supplies could no longer be 
brought from Vera Cruz : " Whoever maltreats unoffend- 
ing Mexicans, takes without pay, or wantonly destroys 
their property, of any kind whatsoever, will prolong this 
war, waste the means present and future of subsisting our 
men and animals, as they successively advance into the 
interior, or return to our water depot (Vera Cruz); and 
no army can possibly drag after it to any considerable 
distance, no matter what the season of the year, the 
heavy articles of breadstuff, meat, and forage. Those, 
therefore, who rob, plunder, or destroy the houses, fences, 
cattle, poultry, grain, fields, gardens or property of any 
kind along the line of our operations, are plainly the ene- 
mies of this array. The General-in-Chief would infinitely 
prefer that the few who commit such outrages would de- 
sert at once and fight against us. Then it would be easy 
to shoot them down, or capture and hang them." 

Mihtary disciphne confines to the commanding officer 
the prerogative of plundering the enemy, and he would 
no doubt wish to protect it from encroachment at all times. 
On the present occasion the General thought proper to 
dissuade the army from indulging their larcenous propen- 
sities, not from motives of justice and humanity, but th@' 
difficulty of i^rocuring supplies ! 



234 REVIEW OF THE -MEXICAN WAR. 

This same General, in an order issued at Vera Cruz, 1st 
April, 1847, declared that " many undoubted atrocities 
have been committed in this neighborhood by a few worth- 
less soldiers, both regulars and volunteers." The army 
was about marching into the interior, and to conciHate the 
inhabitants, and remove the unfavorable impressions made 
by these " atrocities," he issued a proclamation promising 
protection to the Mexicans, and telling them, that for out- 
rages committed upon them, several Americans had already 
been punished by fine and imprisonment, and one " has 
been hung by the neck." " Is not tliis," said he, " a 
proof of good faith and enei-getic disciphne ?" The Gene- 
ral did not tell the Mexicans how very cheap u sacrifice 
he had offered to propitiate them. The one " hung by 
the neck," was a negro, and hence no military popularity 
was lost by his execution, and being a free negro, no pro- 
perty was destroyed. We have no evidence that during 
the whole war, a single soldier was punished with death 
for any outrage committed on Mexicans, however atro- 
cious. 

General Taylor, in a despatch to the War Department, 
16th June, 1847, remarks, "I deeply regret to report 
that many of the twelve months' volunteers, in their route 
hence of the lower Rio Grande, have committed extensive 
depredations and outrages upon the peaceable inhabitants. 
There is scarcely a form of crime that has not been reported 
to me as committed by them!' 

A great number of Mexican towns were captured and 
held by our forces. We may judge, from a single exam- 
ple, what kind of municipal government has most probably 
been exercised by our officers. Twelve months after the 
capture of Monterey, its social condition was thus describ- 
ed by Colonel Tibbats, in an official proclamation : " The 
undersigned, by virtue of an order of the commanding 



REVIEW OF THE MEXICAN WAR 235 

General, has assumed the office of military and civil Gov- 
ernor of Monterey. Finding the command assigned to 
him, virtually without law or order, and infested with rob- 
bers, murderers, gamblers, vagrants, and other evil dis- 
posed persons, the worst of criminals going free, unscathed 
of justice, and rapine and even murder stalking abroad in 
open day without fear of punishment, inasmuch that the 
peaceable inhabitants thereof have no protection either of 
person or property," &c. 

The following official declaration is of a character that 
forbids us to doubt, that the oppression of the Mexicans 
has been most aggravated. General Kearney, writing to 
the War Department, 15th March, 184V, in reference to 
some insurrectionary movements, says : " The Cahforni- 
ans are now quiet, and I shall endeavor to keep them so 
by mild and gentle treatment. Had they received such 
treatment from the time our flag was hoisted in July last, 
I believe there would have been but little or no resistance 
on their part. Thei/ have been most cruelly and shame- 
fully abused by our own people, by volunteers (Ameri- 
can emigrants) residing in this part of the country, and 
on the Sacramento. Had they not resisted, they would 
have been umvorthy of the name of men ^^ 

To the individual sufferings arising from military vio- 
lence, has been added that general suffering in which 
the whole Mexican population has participated, necessarily 



* We do not know the particulars here referred to ; but the fol- 
lowing item from the news of the day gives us some intimation of 
the spirit manifested by the conquerors. " Lieuts. Beal, Tal- 
bot and others, left San Diego February 25th, bringing impor- 
tant intelligence. At Taos, the Court had condemned a large 
number of the insurgents. Eleven had been hung, and many 
whipped. Six were hung the day Lieut. Talbot passed through 
Taos. These executions created great excitement among the 
Mexicans, and efforts were making to stimulate insurrection, 
and raise volunteers for a rebellion," 



236 REVIEW OF THE MEXICAN WAR. 

resulting from the annihilation of their commerce. E very- 
seaport of the Repubhc, whether on the Atlantic or Pa- 
cific, has been occupied by American forces. Hence, the 
Mexicans have been denied the privilege of exchanging 
their surplus productions for the necessaries and conveni- 
ences they had been accustomed to receive from foreign 
countries. Not a Mexican vessel floated on the ocean ; of 
course, all imports and exports were in the hands of for- 
eigners, and subjected to such duties as the invaders 
thought proper to impose. Those duties, moreover, in- 
stead of being appropriated as heretofore to the common 
good, were seized by the conqueror for his own use. Nor 
was his rapacity to be thus satiated. The ordinary muni- 
cipal taxes became his spoil. Thus, for example, a Cap- 
tain commanding in the city of Metamoras, issued his 
rescript requiring " the owners of all stores, groceries, bil- 
liard-tables, hotels, eating-houses, brick-yards, gambling- 
houses, cock-pits, and manufactories of hquors," to pay at 
his office, each month the taxes on their respective esta- 
blishments. The Commander-in-Chief thought proper 
personally to direct and control the squeezing process. 
On the 15th December, 1847, General Scott issued an 
order beginning with the portentous announcement : 
" This army is about to spread itself over and occupy the 
Republic of Mexico, until the latter shall sue for peace 
in terms acceptable to the Government of the United States.'* 
He then proceeds to decree that, " On the occupation of 
the principal point or points in any State, the payment to 
the Federal Government of this Republic of all taxes or 
dues of whatever name or kind, heretofore, say in the 
year 1844, payable or collected by that Government, is 
absolutely prohibited, as all such taxes or dues will be 
demanded of the proper civil authorities for the support 
of the army of occupation." Thus were duties on imports 



REVIEW OF THE MEXICAN WAR. 237 

and exports, municipal, and all other taxes authorized by 
Mexico in time of peace and prosperity, to be extorted by 
a foreign army from the miserable impoverished people. 
One would have supposed that such exactions might have 
satisfied the Americans. But no — Mr. Polk had, from the 
moment he commenced the war, been sighing for peace. 
General Scott had, indeed, conquered Mexico, but he had 
not conquered a peace ; and an organized system of plun- 
der was to effect what his troops and bombs had failed to 
accomplish. Hence, a second order was issued on the 
31st December, 184Y, from Head Quarters, imposing on 
several of the Mexican States a contribution amounting 
to A MILLION OF DOLLARS. The followiug is an extract 
from this order : " On the failure of any State to pay its 
assessment, its functionaries, as above, will be seized and 
imprisoned^ and their property seized, registered, reported, 
and converted to the use of the occupation, in strict accord- 
ance to the general regulations of this army. No resigna- 
tion or abdication of office, by any of the said Mexican 
functionaries, shall excuse any of them from the above 
penalties. If the foregoing measures should fail to en- 
force the regular payment as above from any State, the 
commanding officer of the United States forces within the 
same, will immediately proceed to collect in money or 
kind from the wealthier inhabitants (other than neutral 
friends) within his reach, the amount of the assessment 
due from the State."* 

This was the same General who, in his proclamation 
addressed " to the Mexican nation," from Jalapa, May 
11th, 184'7, assured them, that " The army of the United 
States respects, and will always respect, private pro- 

* It is but justice to General Scott to mention, that he acted 
in accordance with instructions from Mr. Polk, who, without 
any authority from Congress, assumed the power of imposing 
taxes and collecting duties in Mexico. 



238 REVIEW OF THE MEXICAN WAR. 

perty." He who directed officers of the United States 
forces, when assessments on Mexican States are not paid, 
to proceed to collect them from the wealthier inhabitants, 
is the same Commander-in-Chief who, in his order of the 
l)receding April, wished that such of his soldiers as stole 
poultry, grain, &c., from the Mexicans, would desert at 
once, as then it would be easy to shoot them down, or to 
capture and hang them. Among other devices for ex- 
torting money, in connexion with the promised regene- 
ration of the Mexicans, was the official allowance of three 
GAMING-HOUSES in the Capital, in consideration of the 
annual sum of eighteen thousand dollars, payable in 
monthly instalments.* 

We can understand why Mr. Polk and his southern par- 
tisans deemed it expedient to acquire Mexican territory at 
any cost of blood, treasure, and happiness ; but surely 
we may ask of northern Democrats and northern Whigs, 
why have you brought pillage, desolation, and death 
upon the people of Mexico ? What offence had they 
committed which, in the sight of God, can justify such 
horrible retribution at your hands ? Why have you, who 
have no interest in the extension of human bondage, 
fought the battles, not of freedom, but of slavery? 
AVhen summoned, as you will shortly will be, before that 
dread tribunal, which, in another world, takes cogniz- 
ance of every act committed in this, on what plea do you 
expect to vindicate that stupendous mass of human misery 
and human wickedness which your agency has helped to 
accumulate ? 

* It appears from the Report of the Secretary of the Treasury 
(Dec, 1848), that the sum of $3,844,000 was in these various 
ways extorted from the Mexicans. The value of property de- 
stroyed in the city of Mexico, has been estimated at four mil- 
lions. The total annihilation of Mexican property, caused by 
the invasion, no arithmetic can compute. 



REVIEW OF THE MEXICAN WAR. 239 

Mr. Root, of Ohio, one of the ''immortal fourteen," in 
a speech delivered after the triumph of our arms, and the 
acquisition of the " indemnity " demanded by Mr. Polk, 
thus expressed himself on the floor of Congress : — " But 
where shall the widow look for indemnity ? Where shall 
the mother, made childless by this war, look for her in- 
demnity ? Where shall the orphan children, whose fa- 
thers have fallen in battle, or by disease in that distant 
land, look for their indemnity ? Can any of these new 
acquisitions, under this treaty, indemnify them ? It does 
seem to me, sir, that in all this bloody business, the men 
who have been most active in it, have regarded this war 
only in relation to the effect it is likely to have on future 
elections, and they have not once thought how it will be 
regarded by the Judge of all. And when I think of 
these things, I thank my God, humbly thank him, that 
He gave me the nerve and the firmness to stand up here 
in my place, and say ** no " firsthand " no " last, and " no" 
at all times, on every measure designed for the prosecu- 
tion of this accursed war. And, sir, I rejoice that, when 
I approach the last agony of earth, whatever other guilt 
may press me, none of the viciims of this war can meet 
me and say, — 

' Let my fate sit heavy on thy soul to-morrow.* ** 



240 REVIEW OF THE MEXICAN WAR. 



CHAPTER XXX. 

COST OF THE WAR TO THE UNITED STATES. 

One of the professed objects of the war, after the pre- 
tence of repelling invasion had been abandoned, was the 
indemnification of " our much-injured citizens," that is, 
the collection of a few millions of alleged debt. Our fleiet 
and army were employed to collect this debt, and accord- 
ing to Mr. Polk, the costs of collection were to be added 
to the sum due. We not only gave judgment in our own 
cause, but taxed our own costs. Those costs, as nearly as 
can be ascertained, will, wiien finally settled, exceed one 
HUNDRED MILLIONS OF DOLLARS. In civil fife, the vcry 
attempt to compel a debtor to pay a bill of costs twenty 
times the amount of the debt claimed, would be deemed 
scandalous extortion. How far the determination of a 
powerful government, to extort such a bill from a feeble, 
exhausted State by slaughter and devastation, is divested 
of criminality on account of its national character, is a 
question embarrassing only to those who have persuaded 
themselves that statesmen and politicians are under the 
jurisdiction of a pecuHar and relaxed morality. The idea 
that reparation is due to Mexico for a ruthless invasion, 
the devastation of her cities, the plunder of her provinces, 
the slaughter of thousands and tens of thousands of her 
people, has been advanced, only to be denounced as un- 
patriotic, if not treasonable. 

We have levied upon Mexican territory, for the hundred 



REVIEW OF THE MEXICAN WAR. 241 

millions we have spent in attempting to collect a paltry 
debt, which, after all, we have remitted by the treaty of 
peace. Mr. Polk declared his determination to prosecute 
the war till " full indemnity" had been obtained ; but he 
failed to tell us by what moral arithmetic he ascertained 
what number of square miles of slave territory will afford 
a " full indemnity " for the misery, falsehood, and crime 
engendered by his war. 

Many a successful plaintifif has found, to his mortifi- 
cation, that he has injpoverished his adversary without 
enriching himself, and that the fruits of his victory have 
been pocketed by the agents he employed. A similar 
discovery may be in reserve for the American people. 
The question what they have gained by the war, will, in 
time force itself upon their attention. To this inquiry, no 
other answer can be returned than glory and territory. 

Before we proceed to investigate the true value of these 
spoils of victory, let us dwell a moment on their pecuniary 
costs. 

The direct expenditures in waging this war, from 
the departure of Taylor from Corpus Christi, to 
the exchange of the ratifications of the treaty of - 
peace, cannot, at the most moderate estimate, 
be less than $100,000,000 

The money to be paid Mexico, for ceding the re- 
quired territories, and thus saving us the cost 
of protracted hostilities, is ... - 15,000,000 

The cost of the army from the conclusion of the 
war, to its disbandment, including its trans- 
portation home, say 2,000,000 

The extra pay for three months to all soldiers 
who had been engaged in the war, allowed by 
act of Congress, estimated at - - - - 3,000,000 

Every soldier, or his heir, is entitled to 160 acres 

of land, or in lieu thereof, at his option, $100. 

Supposing only 75,000 claims to be presented, 

and to be paid in land, the value of the 

■2\ 



242 REVIEW OF THE MEXICAN WAR. 

land, at the price fixed by Congress would be 
$15,000,000. But to avoid tlie semblanee of 
exaggeration, we will suppose these claims com- 
muted at $100 each, making - - - 7,500,000 

The award under the treaty of 1839, due by Mex- 
ico, and assumed by treaty of peace, with 
interest, 2,000,000 

The Government has also assumed, by treaty, the 
payment of such unliquidated claims against 
Mexico as may be found valid, not exceeding 
{$3,250,000, out of .f 6,455,462 demanded. Should 
none but valid claims be allowed, the sum to be 
paid may amount to ----- 500,000 



Making the total cost, in money, of new terri- 
tory, $130,000,000 

The above estimate, it is believed, is very moderate, 
and mucli below the estimates usually made. But let it 
be recollected, that it is an estimate only of the direct 
expenditures of the Federal Government, for the acqui- 
sition of the coveted territories. 

For nearly two years, at least 140,000 men, as soldiers, 
teamsters, artificers, &c., have been diverted from pro- 
ductive industry, and engaged in occupations, adding 
nothing to the real wealth of the country, or the comfort, 
happiness, and morality of its citizens. The time and 
labor of these men have therefore been literally wasted, 
and consequently what they would have added to the 
common stock in time of peace, is to be included in the 
cost of the war. Many of these individuals have, more- 
over, been brought to an untimely grave, and probably a 
still greater number disquahfied for future usefulness by 
vice and disease. The operations of commerce have, 
moreover, been deranged, and enterprize paralyzed by a 
monetary pressure, occasioned by a drain of specie from 
our great cities, to be expended in Mexico — and wide- 



REVIEW OF THE MEXICAN WAR. 243 

spread bankruptcy only prevented, by an unusual and 
accidental demand for our bread-stuffs in Europe. 
When all these facts are taken into consideration, and 
when we recollect that interest is to be paid during many 
future years, on the money borrowed, and that large 
drafts are yet to be made on the treasury for pensions 
and for indemnities for private losses and injuries, it will 
not be thought extravagant to assume, that the indirect 
cost of the war will be little, if any less than the sum 
actually expended for its prosecution. 

Dr. Franklin, long since remarked, that nothing was 
ever acquired by war that might not have been obtained 
at a less cost b}'' purchase. For the territory of Louisi- 
ana, even more extensive and greatly more valuable than 
that we have wrested from Mexico, we paid $15,000,000. 
For Texas v/e offered $5,000,000, and at a previous day 
we had offered only $1,000,000 for Texas, with a portion 
of California. 

Mr. Polk would have shrunk from offering fifty millions 
for the very land which he has now bought at such a vast 
amount of blood and treasure. It is impossible to resist 
the conviction that, by honest negotiation, we might have 
become the masters of these territories without crime, 
without human butchery, and at a far less cost in money 
than the sum we have paid. 

The mighty sum we have exchanged for glory and ter- 
ritory, has added not one cent, to the productive capital 
of the country, nor brought one new comfort or conveni- 
ence within reach of its population. 

For all useful practical purposes, this amount of the 
nation's capital has been annihilated. But it is easy to 
imagine how such a sum might have been expended in 
modes resulting in a prodigious augmentation of the re- 
sources of the nation, and the virtue and enjoyments of 



244 REVIEW OF THE MEXICAN WAR. 

the people. Such a sum might have spread a net-work 
of raih-oads and telegraphic wires over the country, unit- 
ing in bonds of interest and intercourse the remotest in- 
habitants of our vast empire. It would have opened 
through Oregon a channel by which the commerce of 
India and China would in a few days have reached every 
portion of our Confederacy. Or it might have given 
security and facility to our magnificent inland navigation, 
and formed safe and capacious harbors on our mediter- 
ranean seas. Or it might have carried science and useful 
knowledge to the inmates of every dwelhng in our Re- 
pubhc ; and in various ways have been made conducive 
to the diffusion of virtue and religion. The mere interest 
of this sum is vastly greater than is annually contributed 
by Christendom to evangelize the world. The disposal 
of this treasure was a talent which, in the providence of 
God, was entrusted to our rulers : whether the use they 
have made of it proves them to have been good and faith- 
ful servants will be declared on that day in which they 
shall give an account of their stewardship. 

We should, however, take a most erroneous and limited 
view of the cost of this war to the United States, were 
we to confine our estimates to the millions which have 
been expended in its prosecution, or to the personal suf- 
fering* it has occasioned. Before we can sum up the 
total cost, we must add to the blood, the groans, the 
treasure, we have bartered for victory and conquest, the 
pohtical and moral evils the war has bequeathed to the 
nation — evils as extensive as the bounds of the RepubUc, 
and whose eflFects upon the happiness of mdividuals will 
continue to be felt when time shall be no more. 



REVIEW OF THE MEXICAN WAR. 245 



CHAPTER XXXI. 

POLITICAL EVILS OF THE WAR. 

All war is necessarily unfavorable in its tendencies to the 
liberties and prosperity of a State, even when waged for 
the defence or recovery of freedom. The burthens it 
imposes, the arbitrary authorit}^ it confers, and the dis- 
positions it fosters, are all adverse to popular rights. 
These tendencies are, of course, controlled and modified 
by circumstances. The late war, having been carried on 
wholly without the limits of our own country, did not 
inflict upon our citizens those violations of right and those 
oppressive exactions which are ever experienced on the 
theatre of hostilities. It has nevertheless shown itself a 
dangerous foe to constitutional liberty. 

We have seen in the preceding pages that most pro- 
vident and ample preparations were made for the com- 
mencement of the war on the Rio Grande, and for the 
seizure of California, not only without the sanction, but 
even without the knowledge of Congress. It is utterly 
impossible that Congress would have issued, or the peo- 
ple have tolerated, a declaration of war against Mexico, 
either to compel her to pay our alleged claims, or to 
withdraw her troops and magistrates from her villages on 
the Rio Grande. Hence, it was deemed necessary first to 
provoke a collision, and then to appeal to Congress to 
defend the country from invasion ! The war, therefore, 
although recognized and prosecuted by Congress after its 
commencement, was in fact and in truth begun in conse- 
12* 



24G REVIEW OF THE MEXICAN WAR. 

quence of orders issued by the President on his own re- 
sponsibility, and not in pursuance of any constitutional or 
legal authority. He had, indeed, as Commander-in-Chief, 
a right to direct the movements of the troops, but not in 
such a manner as necessarily and designedly to involve 
the country in war. Most truly, therefore, did the House 
of Representatives declare that the war had been uncon- 
stitutionally begun by the President. 

Yet has this usurpation of power, leading to the sacri- 
fice of thousands of lives and millions of treasure, been 
unvisited with punishment. The offence has found an 
apology in the triumphs to which it has led ; and thus a 
sanction has been given to a precedent, that invests the 
President of the Republic with the royal prerogative of 
bringing upon the nation t\\e calamities of war. 

Nor is this the only instance, in which the President in 
his own person has exercised powers belonging only to the 
legislative branch of the Government. Although not per- 
mitted by the Constitution to appoint of his own will and 
pleasure, a single officer, or to take from the treasury a 
single cent, he established a system of tariffs and internal 
taxation in Mexico, appointing a horde of collectors, and 
accumulating at his own disposal, all the revenue that 
could be extorted at the point of the bayonet, from the 
miserable and impoverished Mexicans ; and all this with- 
out the sHghtest Avarrant from Congress.^ 

* " I am under a deep conviction, that the President has no 
right whatever, to impose taxes internal and external on the 
people of Mexico. It is an act without the authority of the 
Constitution or laws, and eminently dangerous to the country. 
If the President can exercise, in Mexico, a power expressly given 
to Congress, which he cannot exercise in the United States, I 
would ask where is the limit to his power in Mexico ? Has he 
also the power of making appropriations of money collected in 
Mexico, without the sanction of Congress ? This he has already 
doTie. Has he the power to apply the money to whatever pur- 
poses he may think proper, and, among others, to raise a mili- 
tary force in Mexico, without the sanction of Congress ? This 



REVIEW OF THE MEXICAN WAR. 247 

He has also, by his sovereign will and pleasure, estab- 
lished civil Governments in New Mexico and California, 
appointed Governors, organized courts of justice, commis- 
sioned magistrates, (fee, without even consulting Congress, 
and with no law whatever, authorizing the exercise of these 
high prerogatives, or providing for the salaries of the nu- 
merous civil officers he has seen fit to appoint. It ap- 
pears from the Report of the Secretary of War, Dec. 4, 
1847, that the duties collected in California, "have been 
applied towards the support of the civil Government." 
Thus has the President, of his own will and pleasure, not 
only appointed officers, but paid them salaries at his dis- 
cretion. Thus have a people, jealous of their hberties per- 
mitted, in the delirium of victory and conquest, their chief 
magistrate to assume over vast regions the most unlimited 
and despotic authority, grasping at once the sword and 
the purse. Henceforth it is to be part of our theory of 
Government, that during war, the President of the United 
States is released from all constitutional restrictions, so far 
as he acts without the limits of the country, and that he is 
wholly beyond the control of Congress. The immense 
power and patronage thus conferred on the President by 
a state of war, may hereafter prove a strong inducement 
with that officer to plunge his country into hostilities, and 
to postpone the return of peace. 

The course pursued by Congress has apparently been 
directed by the principle, that when the country has once 

ahn he hns already done " — Speech nf M>- Calhoun in Seriate, March . 
1848. 

"Is the establishment of a code of customs in Mexico, an act 
of war, or derived from war, or an act of legishiiion? Why, 
clearly it is the bitter I want to know how the President of 
the United States can overturn the revenue law of Mexico, and 
estiiblish a new one in its stend. any more than lie can overturn 
the law of the descent of property, the law of inheritance, the 
criminal code, or any other portion of Mexican law ?" — Mr. 
Webster's Speech in Senate, March, 1848. 



248 REVIEV/ OF THE MEXICAN WAR. 

been involved in war, no matter by what means, or for 
what objects, it is the duty of the representatives of the 
people to afford to the President every facility he de- 
mands for its prosecution, however wicked or injurious 
it may be. 

Not only has the public mind become accustomed to 
executive usurpation, but it has lost, in its admiration of 
military success, that jealousy of military power, which is 
a most powerful safeguard of republican liberty. We 
have been utterly heedless of the melancholy example ex- 
hibited by Mexico herself, of the disastrous influence of a 
thirst for martial renown. The astonishing facility with 
which that country was overrun and prostrated by our 
troops, cannot be accounted for solely by the paralyzing 
effect of the Mexican church on the progress of science 
and civilization. Ever since her independence, Mexico 
has fostered a military spirit ; but it was a spirit that con- 
.sumed her very vitals. The resources of the State were 
squandered on tlie array, and the army through its gene- 
rals governed the State. The blessings of peace were 
despised, and the citizens, instead of combining for the 
common welfare, were divided into partisans of rival Gen- 
erals. Revolution succeeded revolution in rapid succes- 
sion, one chieftain supplanting another. A civiliaa was 
scarcely ever placed at the head of the State, the reins of 
government being almost invariably committed to hands 
that grasped the sword. The history of the Republic of 
Mexico has been a history of Hftilitary insurrections and 
usurpations. Even when invaded by a foreign enemy, 
military factions and rival chiefs paralyzed the strength 
of the nation, and rendered her an easy pi'ey. All the 
records of the past bear witness to the fact, that popular 
Generals have been the chief destroyers of Republics. 
Yet the American people, deaf to the warnings of his- 



REVIEW OF THE MEXICAN WAR. 249 

toiy, have apparently become infatuated with military 
glory, and have recently given, various indications of their 
preference for men who have served their country in the 
field, over such as have merely labored to advance her 
prosperity and happiness, by cultivating the arts of peace. 
The arbitrary spirit engendered by war, and the idea 
which it fosters, that all rights and interests must yield to 
the public safety, are both necessarily hostile in their ten- 
dency, to the free expression of opinion adverse to its 
prosecution. It is not surprisng that the authors of the 
Mexican war — a war so open to animadversion, and waged 
for purposes so sectional and odious — should wish to dis- 
courage all investigation into its true character ; and all 
efforts to thwart the accomplishment of its object. No 
law could silence the press, nor arrest debate in Congress, 
nor discussion among the people. But the hope seems to 
have been indulged, that public opinion might be so di- 
rected, as to produce what legislation could not effect. 
On the popularity of the war might depend not merely 
its successful prosecution, and the consequent acquisition 
of the coveted territories, but the predominance of the 
democratic party, and the continued possession of power 
and emoluments by the present incumbents of office. 
Hence Mr. Polk, in his first Message after the commence- 
ment of hostilities, attempted to intimidate his opponents 
by insinuating that they were treacherous to the cause of 
their country. "The war," said he, "has been repre- 
sented as unjust and unnecessary, and as one of aggres- 
sion on our part upon a weak and injured enemy. Such 
erroneous views, though entertained by but few, have 
been widely and extensively circulated, not only at home, 
but have been spread throughout Mexico, and the whole 
world. A more effectual means could not have been de- 
vised to encourage the enemy, and protract the war, than 



250 REVIEW OF THE MEXICAN WAR. 

to advocate and adhere to their cause, and thus give them 
* aid and comfort.'' It is a source of national pride and 
exultation, that the great body of the people have thrown 
no such obstacles in the way of the Government in prose- 
cuting the war successfully, but have liave shown them- 
selves to be eminently patriotic, and ready to vindicate 
their country's honor and interests at any sacrifice." 

Here we have a most arrogant impeachment, by the 
first magistrate of the Union, of the patriotism of such of 
his fellow-citizens, including no small portion of the very 
Congress he was addressing, who in the exercise of the 
very rights guaranteed to them by the Constitution of 
their country, ventured to express the opinion, that the 
war in which he had involved the nation, was unjust, un- 
necessary, and aggressive. Mr, Polk did not deem it pru- 
dent to denounce in plain terms, the opponents to his 
measures as traitors to their country, and meriting an 
ignominious death, but preferred doing it by imiolication ; 
and hence applied to all such as pronounced his war un- 
just, unnecessary, and aggressive, the technical terms, 
"giving aid and comfort" to enemies, used by the Con- 
stitution of the United States (Art. HI. Sect. 1), in de- 
fining the crime of treason. If this gentleman did indeed 
believe, that a conscientious opposition to an existing war, 
is inconsistent with patriotism, and equivalent to the crime 
of giving aid and comfort to the enemy, he is ignorant not 
merely of the first principles of ethics, but of the course 
pursued by some of the most illustrious statesmen and 
patriots who have adorned the pages of modern history. 

What said Lord Chatham, the celebrated Prime Minis- 
ter of England, who had led his nation to victory and 
power, and whose memory is embalmed in the grateful 
remembrance of his countrymen ? This great man during 
the American war, declared in Parliament; ''If I were an 



REVIEW OF THE MEXICAN WAR. 251 

American, as I am an Englishman, while a foreign troop 
was landed in my country, I would never lay down my 
arms — never — never — never." Fox even refused to con- 
cur in a vote of thanks to officers for the victories they 
had achieved, in what he believed, to be an unjust war. 
Numerous distinguished members of the British Parlia- 
ment were active and persevering in their opposition 
to the war. So again, the war waged by Great Britain 
against the French Republic, was freely denounced as 
unjust and unnecessary, by statesmen high in the confidence 
of the nation. The recent war against China, frequently 
called the Opium War, was sternly denounced by a large 
portion of the British public as most iniquitous. At a 
public meeting in London, at which a British peer, the 
Earl of Stanhope, presided, it was resolved : " That this 
meeting deeply laments that the moral and religious 
feelings of the country should be outraged, the character 
of Christianity disgraced in the eyes of the world, and this 
kingdom involved in war with upwards of three hundred 
and fifty milUons of people, in consequence of British 
subjects introducing opium into China, in direct and 
known violation of the laws of that Empire." The 
meeting concurred in a petition to Parliament, for an 
immediate peace, and ordered that their proceedings 
should be translated into the Chinese language, and for- 
warded to the Emperor of China. Yet no Minister of the 
Crown, no member of Parliament, ventured to denounce 
this Constitutional expression of opinion as treasonable. 
In our own country we have seen men of the purest 
character, the most unquestionable patriotism, opposing 
the war of 1812 with Great Britain, as unnecessary, 
impoHtic, and unjust. No Constitutional monarch in 
Europe would venture to impeach the patriotism and 
loyalty of those, who, in a mode sanctioned by the funda- 



252 REVIEW OF THE MEXICAN WAR. 

mental laws of the Empire, opposed the measures of his 

Government. 

The system of denunciation commenced in the Message, 
was zealously and rudely pursued by the official journal. 
The following article appeared in the Washington Union, 
soon after the date of the Message. 

" A War-register. Timely Proposition. — It has been 
suggested, that the cause of the country may be promoted 
by the opening of a war-register in every city, town, and 
village, for the purpose of preserving an authentic record 
of the Toryism which may be displayed by individuals, 
during the continuance of the present war. In this 
register, it is proposed to record the names of such per- 
sons as make themselves zealous in pleading the cause of 
the enemy, and oppose the war into which the people and 
the Government of the United States have been forced by 
Mexican aggression, insult, and robbery. Besides the 
names of the individuals who pronounce against the justice 
of our cause, such sentiments as are particularly odious, 
should be placed on the register. Where an individual 
expresses sympathy for the enemy, or wishes the death 
of the President, or the downfall of the National Admin- 
istration as a punishment for having engaged in the war, 
the sentiments of the Tory should be registered in his 
own language as nearly as possible. All statements 
intended for entry on the record, should be verified by the 
name of the witness or contributor." 

The wickedness of this article, is not concealed by the 
absurdity of its pretended proposition. Its evident 
design was to intimidate the opponents of the war, by 
exciting against them demonstrations of popular violence. 
It is a call from the Government organ upon the dema- 
gogues of the day, to stifle by brute force, all open 
denunciation of the war. Confiding in the countenance 



REVIEW OF THE MEXICAN WAR. 253 

and patronage of the executive and his partisans, the 
editor of this paper assumed a dictatorship over the pro- 
ceedings of Congress, rebuking either House with vulgar 
insolence whenever it declined an immediate compliance 
with the wishes of the President. Such members as 
voted against granting further supplies, were stigmatized 
as Mexican Whigs. At last, a vote of the Senate dis- 
pleasing to the Administration, was announced as 
" ANOTHER Mexican victory." Happily the purpose 
intended was not effected. Indignation, and not intimida- 
tion, was the result ; and the President's editor was, by a 
formal resolution, " for having uttered a public libel on 
the Senate," excluded from the privilege of admission to 
the floor of the Senate, a courtesy that had hitherto been 
shown him. The course pursued by this journal merits 
attention only from its being the acknowledged organ of 
the executive, and from its obvious accordance with the 
spirit and design of Mr. Polk's official denunciation of the 
opponents to the ivar. Many of the officers of the army, 
following the hints given by the President and his organ, 
professed to be exceedingly scandalized by the objections 
made to the war. General Twiggs, in particular, was so 
regardless of decency as to give, at a pubhc dinner in 
Mexico, the toast, " Honor to the citizen-soldier who steps 
forward to battle for his country. Shame to the knaves 
at home, who give aid and comfort to our enemies." A 
Colonel Wynkoop, wrote from Mexico : " We here can see 
no difference between the men, who, in 1776, succored the 
British, and those, who, in 1847 give arguments and sym- 
pathy to the Mexicans." Another Colonel of the name 
of Morgan, declared in a public speech : " All who will 
advocate the withholding of supplies, or withdrawing our 
armies, disguise their sentiments however they may, under 
22 



254 REVIEW OF THE MEXICAN WAR. 

whatever artful plea they choose, are traitors at 

HEART."* 

These various attempts to suppress the freedom of 
debate and discussion, only reiterate the lesson univer- 
sally taught by history, that war, in its spirit is hostile to 
civil liberty. Had the war been a popular one, had the 
masses been maddened by defeat, had they been thirsting 
for the blood of their enemies ; the efforts of the Presi- 
dent and his partisans to direct their fury upon a feeble 
minority whom they were taught to regard as traitors, 
would not have been fruitless, and the American, like the 
French RepubHc, would have had her annals disgraced by 
a Reign of Terror. 

But happily the assertion of the President, that the 
war was regarded as unjust and unnecessary, and as one 
of aggression " hy hut few,'' was of equal veracity with 
many other of his declarations. This assertion was made 
in his Message of December, 1846, at which time his 
party had a very large majority in the House of Repre- 
sentatives. The next December, a new House of Repre- 
sentatives, elected in the interim, assembled ; and this 
new House, " fresh from the people," Resolved : " that 
the war was unnecessarily and unconstitutionally begim 
by the President of the United States." 

But although we have successfully maintained the 
liberty of speech and of the press, the sanction given by 
the war to executive usurpations ; and the thirst for con- 
quest and glory, Avhich it has stimulated, are destined to 
exert a durable and disastrous influence on the Republic. 
There are also other political evils resulting from the war, 
which merit consideration. The nation, which at the 
commencement of hostilities was free from debt, is now 
burthened with a load of pecuniary obligations. To 

* We quote these military ebullitions, from the Newspapers 
of the clay. 



REVIEW OF THE MEXICAN WAR. 255 

relieve ourselves of this load, it will be necessary for 
many years, to impose heavy duties upon imports ; and 
these duties are in fact, taxes upon the necessaries and 
comforts of life ; not the less real for being indirect and 
unperceived by the consumers. Our national vanity is 
flattered by the fact, that the certificates of our debt are 
now selling in Europe. It seems not to be recollected 
that our debt is thus transferred to foreigners, who, instead 
of our own citizens, are hereafter to receive from the 
national treasury, both principle and interest. Great 
Britain could not support, for a single year, the payment 
even of the interest of her debt, did it not find its way 
into the pockets of her own subjects, whence it is again 
returned in taxes to the Government. Just in proportion 
as our debt is due abroad, the more onerous is it to 
ourselves. 

When we reflect on the vast extent given to our 
Empire by the recent conquests — the peculiar character 
of the conquered people who are to, be invested with the 
privileges of American citizens — the bitter sectional feel- 
ings already engendered by the question respecting the 
extension of slavery over these regions — the diversity of 
interests that will exist between the Atlantic and Pacific 
States, and the perpetual struggle for mastery which must 
prevail between a powerful yeomanry, depending on their 
own industry, and a landed aristocracy supported by some 
millions of serfs, surely we have cause to apprehend 
much irritation, civil dissensions, and the ultimate disruption 
of the Union. 

We presume not to lift the veil that conceals the future ; 
but if the declaration, that " Wherewithal a man sinneth, 
by the same also shall he be punished," be applicable to 
nations as well as to individuals, we cannot doubt that the 
conquests which now swell our national pride will prove 
scourges to humble it. 



256 REVIEW OF THE MEXICAN WAR. 



CHAPTER XXXII 



MORAL EVILS OF THE WAR, 



The malignant as well as the benevolent aflfections of our 
nature are strengthened by exercise. A volunteer, de- 
scribing in a letter his sensations on first going into battle, 
mentions that on discharging his musket, he was harassed 
with the fear that he might possibly kill somebody ; but 
that after a while he became as eager as others in the 
work of death. 

From the commencement of hostilities, the pubUc was 
almost daily served by the newspapers with details of 
battles, and bombardments, and mangled corpses, and all 
the varieties of human suffering caused by war : 

*' Boys and girls, 
And women, that -would groan to see a child 
Pull off an insect's leg, all read of war — 
The best amusement of our morning meal : 
And all are learned, fluent, absolute, 
And technical, in victories and defeats, 
And all the dainty terms for fratricide ; 
Terms which we trundle smoothly o'er our tongues, 
Like mere abstractions — empty sounds, to which 
We give no feeling and attach no form. 
As if the soldier died without a wound — 
As if the fibres of this godlike frame 
Were gored without a pang — as if the wretch 
Who fell in battle, doing bloody deeds, 
Pass'd off to Heaven, translated, and not killed — 
As though he had no wife to pine for him, 
No God to judge." 



REVIEW OF THE MEXICAN WAR. 257 

This constant familiarity with human suffering, instead of 
awakening sympathy, lias roused into action the vilest 
passions of our nature. We have been taught to ring our 
bells, and illuminate our windows, and let off fireworks, as 
manifestations of our joy, when we have heard of great 
ruin, and devastation, and misery, and death, inflicted by 
our troops upon a people who never injured us, who 
never fired a shot on our soil, and who were utterly in- 
capable of acting on the offensive against us.* Nor was 
our exultation at the flow of Mexican blood repressed by 
the recollection that American blood flowed with it. Our 
neighbors, and friends, and countrymen, by thousands, 
fell in battle, or wasted in the noisome hospital — but their 
sufferings excited almost as little thought and compassion 
as those of the Mexicans. The nation had gained glory, 

* Says an able writer : " American gentlemen, husbands and 
fathers, send an army to collect a debt from some jMexican chief- 
tains by bombarding Vera Cruz. By day and by night the 
awful storm of bomb-shells is rained down upon the devoted 
city. Christian gentlemen guide these guns, and kindle these 
fires of hell. Mothers and daughters fly shrieking through the 
streets, and their mangled limbs are buried beneath the ruins 
of their dwellings. These shells explode in infant nurseries, 
by the bedside of languishing disease, in parlors of refinement 
and piety. Ladies have limb torn from limb by the balls which 
American gentlemen fire. A large party of ladies, in the terror 
of that awful bombardment, fly to the cellar of one of the most 
costly stone mansions, hoping there to find refuge from these 
engines of destruction which have demolished many of their 
dwellings, and by a bloody death bereaved them of many of their 
dearest friends. The thunders of the bombardment, the crash 
of the explosions of bomb-shells, the slirieks of the dying, pierce 
the darkness of the cellar, and excite to a frenzy of terror the 
trembling females there. A shell falls upon the roof of the 
house, descends into the cellar, and explodes ; and the limbs of 
these mothers and maidens, mangled and gory, are driven into 
the walls. And this is honorable warfare— this is Christian y^sr- 
fare — and the result of such scenes is the subject for civic re- 
joicing, bonfires, and illuminations ! And respectable men, hu- 
mane men, men who sit at the table of Jesus Christ as his dis- 
ciples, who publish papers to guide the world to Christian feel- 
ings and practices, consider this a very suitable way of collect- 
ing debts." 

22* 



258 REVIEW OF THE .MEXICAN WAR* 

and would gain land ; and politicians seemed anxious to 
gain popularity by rivalling each other in exulting shouts. 
Alas, in very many instances those shouts proceeded 
from the same lips which denounced the war as uncon- 
stitutional, unjust, and a national crime ! 

The struo-o-les between the convictions of conscience 
and the aspirations for popular favor, led others besides 
the Whio-s into strangle and almost ludicrous contradic- 
tions. 

We have heard much of late years, from a certain class 
of philanthropists, of the inviolability of human life ; and 
societies have been organized for the abohtion of capital 
punishment. Life was a boon granted by the Deity, 
which could rightfully be taken only by the Giver. ^11 
this was very well, as applied to American felons ; but to 
extend it to Mexican men, women, and children, guiltless 
of crime, was, of course, to give " aid and comfort " to 
the enemy. Hence was seen, in one of our largest cities, 
the singular spectacle of a president of an anti-capital- 
punishment society presiding over a large and ferocious 
war meeting. The president of another similar society, a 
prominent politician, accepted and discharged the very- 
consistent duty of presenting a complimentary sword to a 
popular general. 

That portion of the publie press which supported the 
war has, in many instances, been instrumental in diffusing 
throughout the community most impious and ferocious 
sentiments. It was, of course, the policy of the dominant 
party to excite the passions of the people against Mexico, 
to encourage admiration for military prowess, and to re- 
press all compassion for those we were slaughtering and 
plundering. Hence, many of the war journals apparently 
labored to pervert the moral sense of the community, and 
to insult and ridicule those religious feehngs Avhich were 



REVIEW OF THE MEXICAN WAR. 259 

naturall}^ sliocked by the character and events of the 
war. - 

A few quotations will illustrate these remarks. Mr. 
Polk, as we have seen, while devastating Mexico, was at 
all times sighing for peace. His presses teemed with the 
most brutal plans for " conquering peace." 

" We must now," said one of thera, " destroy the city 
of Mexico, level it with the earth on which it stands, serve 
Puebla, Perote, Jalapa, Saltillo, and Monterey in the 
same way, and then increase our demands till we insist on 
the perpetual possession of the Castle of Juan d'Ulua, as 
a key to the commerce of the Gulf of Mexico. This 
course would save hundreds of lives. Occupy all the 
seaports on the Gulf and the Pacific for revenue for the 
payment of the expenses of the war. Such a course 
would compel the Mexicans to sue for peace." 

Said another : " Unless we distress the Mexicans, carry 
destruction and loss of life to every fireside, and make 
them feel a rod of iron, they will not respect us." Mr. 
Polk's own organ, the official Union, declared : " Our 
work of subjugation and conquest must go on rapidly 
and with augmented force, and, as far as possible, at the 
expense of Mexico herself. Henceforth, we must seek 
PEACE, and compel it by inflicting on our enemies all the 
evils of war." 

These barbarous sentiments, which were rife through 
the land, were aggravated in atrocity by the lying pretext 
on which they were urged. We, an invading foe, were 
to murder by wholesale, and level cities to the earth, to 
procure a peace that was ours the moment we ceased to 
assail the Mexicans. Did we choose to recal our armies, 
we well knew our enemy had no means of revenging the 
wrong we had done her. Mexico was fighting solely in 
self-defence, and the only peace we desired, the only 



260 REVIEW OF THE MEXICAN WAR. 

peace \ye were ready to conquer, was the cession of the 
territory for which we had commenced the war. 

Not only were the general precepts of justice and 
humanity thus set at defiance, but pains seemed to be 
taken to attract public admiration for such acts of ferocity 
and impiety as were calculated to nourish the war spirit. 
A silly child of eleven years was said to have written a 
letter to one of the Generals, asking to be employed 
against tke Mexicans, and boasting that he had money 
enough to buy a j^'^^^' of pistols and a dagger ; and the 
epistle of this little boy was paraded in the papers, headed 

** THE RIGHT KIND OF SPIRIT." AuecdotCS of officerS, 

which, if true, could not fail to disgust all who reverence 
the awful realities of Christianity, have been loudly 
trumpeted as instances of American patriotism and hero- 
ism. Thus we have had an account of a captain mortally 
wounded, and just expiring. " The whole of his lower 
jaw, with a part of his tongue and palate, is shot away by 
a grape shot ; he communicated his thoughts by writing 
on a slate. He does not desire to live. He concluded 
an answer to some inquiries concerning the battle of the 
9th, by writing ^ we gave the Mexicans hell!^^^ These 
words so peculiarly horrible, as uttered by a dying man, 
became with a certain class a slang phrase, and to give 
the Mexicans hell, seemed to be the glorious privilege, as 
well as duty, of American Christians. A Mississippi 
paper adopted it, with a blasphemous addition : — " By 
some mistake a piece of poetry headed * Song of the 
Sword,'* appears on our first page. It seems that in our 
absence, when, it may be, the boys were out of copy, this 
song was selected to fill up a place. We never saw it 
till it was too late to make the correction. It does not 

* An English poem on war, having no allusion to this 
country. 



REVIEW OF THE MEXICAN WAR. 261 

express our sentiments. It is Whiggish, and very bad 
poetry withal. We go for giving the Mexicans hell, 
whether Christ be our guide or not." 

Under the caption, " noble exploit," we are told of a 
soldier mortally wounded, remonstrating against being 
carried off the field, exclaiming, " he was a dead man, and 
damned if he did not vrant to kill some of them." 

Some comment having been excited by certain profane 
expressions, untruly we hope, alleged to have escaped 
from General Taylor, in the heat of battle, a New Or- 
leans paper rephed : " It is a paltry affectation in any one 
who knows the General, to pretend to be shocked at 
what was related of him at Buena Vista. It is a mere 
sham for the benefit of puritanical souls, who do their 
damning after a more economical formulary, than is 
generally used in the field. The words came out of 
General Taylor's mouth, and were no doubt as acceptable 
to heaven as the roaring of the cannon which belched 
forth death, and strewed the earth with slaughter." 

The few instances we have cited (and they might be 
multiplied indefinitely), indicate the baneful influences to 
which public opinion has been exposed, through the 
efforts to create and maintain a war spirit in the com- 
munity. 

The Church has, in some few cases, united in this un- 
holy work, of corrupting public opinion. The pulpit has 
occasionally uttered its benedictions on the Mexican in- 
vasion ; and ministers of Christ, by joining in miUtary 
funeral pageants, have given the sanction of the religion 
they professed, to the cause in which the deceased perish- 
ed. On some of these occasions sermons have been de- 
livered, breathing little of the spirit of the Prince of Peace. 
Men who had lost their Hves in the act of voluntarily 
carrying fire and sword into a foreign country, have been 



263 REVIEW OF THE MEXICAN WAR. 

held forth to the admiration of their couDtrymen, as 
having fallen in the discharge of duty. But these reve- 
rend patriots omitted to instruct their audience, that the 
Mexicans who fell in the act of defending their wives and 
children, were no less obedient to the commands of duty 
than the American volunteer ; nor did they avail them- 
selves of the opportunity to draw the obvious inference 
that, as both Americans and Mexicans were but discharg- 
ing their duty in killing each other ; mutual slaughter is 
an acceptable sacrifice to the common Father of all, and 
in accordance with the precepts of the Divine Redeemer. 
Some of the clergy very consistently reduced to practice 
the doctrines they taught. Thus we had the announce- 
ment in a St. Louis paper, of " a baptist preacher 
KILLED IN battle," with an eulogy on his patriotism. The 
New Orleans Picayune thus noticed another officer of the 
Church militant : — " A company of about ninety men 
arrived here yesterday from the parishes, under the com- 
mand of the Rev. Richard A. Stewart, as captain. Cap- 
tain Stewart is a worthy clergyman, of the Methodist 
persuasion, who allows nothing to prevent his discharge 
of that duty every citizen owes his country in the hour of 
peril ! " The Reverend Captain, it seems, so exerted 
himself in the hour of his country's peril, as to acquire at 
least that honor which cometh from man ; for on his 
return from the wars, we again find him noticed in the 
Picayune of February, 1848. In an account of a Taylor 
meeting in New Orleans, it is said, " Mr. Stewart, of Iber- 
ville submitted a resolution, nominating General Zachary 
Taylor as a candidate for the Presidency of the United 
States. A member of the Convention rose to second the 
resolution, and said, * that as the mover might not be 
known to all the Convention, he would announce him to 



REVIEW OF THE MEXICAN WAR. 263 

them as the Reverend Colonel Stewart, of Iberville, the 
fighting clergyman f (immense applause.) " 

It is however due to justice to acknowledge, and to ac- 
knowledge with gratitude, that the sacred office has rarely- 
been desecrated by a vindication of the Mexican war ; and 
that in numerous instances ecclesiastical bodies and indi- 
vidual pastors have, with Christian boldness and fidelity, 
exposed and denounced its wickedness. Nor was oppo- 
sition to the war confined to the clerical profession. The 
whole religious community, especially at the North, were, 
with few exceptions, unanimous in reprobating it ; and 
indeed, had it not been for the acts and efforts of poU- 
ticians, of men striving to keep the offices they had, and 
others striving to gain the offices they wanted, the great 
mass of the people would have regarded the war with 
abhorrence. 

The moral sense of the nation was, moreover, impaired 
by the sentiment industriously cultivated by the politicians 
of both parties — " Our country, right or wrong." This 
sentiment was of course intended to vindicate each party, 
for the support it gave to the war, by insinuating that 
devotion to country is more imperative than moral obli- 
gation. 

The war has also had a most unhappy influence in 
familiarizing the public ear to falsehood, and under cir- 
cumstances tending to divest the sin of much of its vile- 
ness. Falsehood was dignified, both by the magnitude 
and importance of the objects it was intended to promote, 
and by the elevated position of those who condescended 
to use it as an instrument. 

It was one of the lamentations of the Prophet, that 
" truth has ftiUen in the streets ;" and in our days, the 
Mexican war has caused her to be trampled in the dust, 
not only in the streets of Washington, but in every high- 



264 REVIEW OF THE MEXICAN WAR. 

way throughout the repubhc. The Message of Mr. Polk 
(Dec. 1846), in vindication of the war, has been termed 
"a pyramid of mendacity". It would occupy too much 
space to examine in detail the various materials of this 
vast structure, we will merely give a few specimens which 
the attentive reader of the preceding pages will be quali- 
j5ed to analyze for himself. 

" The existing war with Mexico was neither desired nor 
provoked by the United States ; on the contrary, all hon- 
orable means ivere resorted to to avert it. . After years of 
endurance of aggravated wrongs on our part, Mexico, in 
violation of solemn treaty stipulations commenced hostili- 
ties, and thus by her own SiZi forced the war upon us. Long 
before the advance of our army to the left bank of the 
Rio Grande, we had ample cause of war against Mexico ; 
and, had the United States resorted to this extremity, we 
might have appealed to the whole civilized world for the 
justice of our cause." " The wrongs which we have suf- 
fered from Mexico almost ever since she became an indepen- 
dent power, and the patient endurance with which we have 
borne them, are without a parallel in the history of modem 
civilized nations." ** The annexation of Texas to the 
United States constituted no just cause of ofifence to 
Mexico." "Whilst occupying his (General Ta3'lor's) 
position on the east bank of the Rio Grande within the 
limits of Texas, then recently admitted as one of the States 
of our Union, the Commanding- General of the Mexican 
forces, who, in pursuance of the orders of his Government, 
had collected a large army on the opposite shore of the 
Rio Grande, crossed the river, invaded our territory, and 
commenced hostilities by attacking our forces. ^^ " Every 
honorable effort has been used by me to avoid the war 
that followed ; but all have proved vain. All our attempts 
to preserve peace have been met by insult and resistance 



REVIEW OP THE MEXICAN WAR, 265 

on the part of Mexico." " This war has not been waged 
with a view to conquest," cfec, &c. 

With a reckless consistency rarely paralleled, he an- 
nounced to Congress on the 6tli of July, 1848, that " the 
war in which our country was reluctantly involved in 
the NECESSARY vindication of the national rights and honor, 
has been terminated." 

The fictions of Mr. Polk were reiterated by his party 
with all the gravity of sincere behef. The Whigs in Con- 
gress, with a few honorable exceptions, pursued a different 
policy. They fearlessly confessed that the war for 
which they voted was unnecessary and unjust, a war of 
aggression and not of defence ; and that the assertion in 
behalf of which they enrolled their names in an enduring 
record, that the war existed " by the act of Mexico" was 
FALSE. To excuse their conduct, they also had their fiction. 
They voted to raise fifty thousand men, for the purpose of 
rescuing General Taylor and his little army from capture 
by the Mexicans ! 

The falsehoods respecting the Mexican war, coined in 
Washington, became a circulating medium throughout the 
country. They were found in almost every official de- 
spatch ; they were uttered through the press ; they were 
passed as genuine by Governors in their messages, and by 
Legislatures in their resolves. Who shall estimate the 
injury done to the morality of the nation by this wide- 
spread contempt for truth ? The example of men con- 
spicuous for talents, influence, and station, must be ope- 
rative for good or for evil " When the righteous are in 
authority the people rejoice ; but when the wicked bear 
rule, the people mourn." It has been well said that truth 
and the confidence it inspires, is the basis of human society, 
and that error is the source of every iniquity. How de- 
plorable, then, that the love of truth and abhorrence of 
23 



266 REVIEW OF THE MEXICAN WAR. 

falsehood should be weakened by the authority and exam- 
ple of those in high places ! But with this subject are 
connected considerations more momentous than any that 
belong to this transitory scene ; — we are all soon to enter 
upon an endless existence in a world in which sorrow and 
falsehood are alike unknown, or in a place from which joy 
and truth are for ever banished. 

Surely, among the awful responsibihties resting upon 
the authors and supporters of the Mexican war, will be 
included the corruption of pubhc opinion and the depra- 
vation of public morals to which it has given birth. 



REVIEW OF THE MEXICAN WAR. 267 



CHAPTER XXXIII. 

ACQUISITION OF TERRITORY. 

Having taken a retrospect of the pecuniary, political, 
and moral sacrifices made by the American people, in the 
war they have waged against Mexico, let us next inquire 
what equivalents they have received. It is difficult to ima- 
gine any which are not included in the Territory and the 
Glory they have acquired. The value of these acquisi- 
tions, we proceed to examine. 

It appears from a document laid before Congress from 
the War Department and Land Office, that the alleged 
limits of Texas embrace 325,520 square miles ; and 
those of New Mexico and California, as ceded by treaty, 
626,078 more, making a grand total of 851,590 square 
miles. It is only by comparison that we can form an 
adequate idea of the extent of this prodigious area. The 
state of New York contains less than 50,000 square 
miles ; of course the addition made to our possessions is 
equal to seventeen times the extent of the Empire State. 
It is four times the size of France, and five times that of 
Spain.* 

Texas, it is true, was acquired by other means than open 
war. But no less than 125,520 square miles, included with- 
in her assumed boundaries, rightfully belonged to Mexico, 
and our title to them is founded, not on her claim, but on 
conquest, confirmed by the treaty of peace. Adding this 
territory to that of New Mexico and California, we have 

* See American Almanac for 1842, p. 270. 



268 REVIEW OF THE MEXICAN WAR. 

651,591 square miles, about one half of all that was left 
to Mexico, after the revolt of Texas, as the spoils of war. 
Such was "the magnanimous forbearance exhibited to- 
wards Mexico," of which Mr. Polk thought proper to 
boast in his Message to the Senate communicating the 
treaty which ceded to us this vast plunder. 

How far this forbearance was magnanimous depends, 
of course, on the motives which prompted it. We have 
already seen that the insurgents of Texas, after some hesi- 
tation, forbore to include California within its boundaries. 
The reason assigned for this forbearance had no reference 
to right and justice ; it was simply, that they had already 
taken as much as they wanted, and that more at present 
would be inconvenient. It is difficult to see wherein our 
forbearance was more magnanimous than that of our 
Texan brethren. We have taken precisely what we went 
to war to acquire ; and a tenitory from which thirteen 
large slave States could be carved, was sufficient to give 
the slave power an entire control of the Federal Govern- 
ment. Mexico, moreover, is so enfeebled and despoiled, 
that all that is left may be absorbed by the mighty Re- 
public, at any moment it may be deemed expedient to 
take possession. 

But as Mexico was prostrated, and we might have an- 
nexed the whole Republic to our territory, was it not 
magnanimous to pay her for what we did take ? It is 
true Mexico was prostrate, but she was not submissive. 
She could not resist our arms, but she could not be occu- 
pied and governed as American territory except by mili- 
tary force. The war was becoming unpopular, and the Ad- 
ministration was tottering, the popular branch of the 
National Legislature having declared against it. It was 
doubtful whether Congress would furnish supplies for 
new conquests. But, in any event, nothing more could be 



REVIEW OF THE MEXICAN WAR. 269 

hoped from the farther prosecution of the war than what 
had been already effected — the military occupation of 
Mexico. Such an occupation for a single year would cost 
double or treble the sum we paid the Mexicans. It was 
obviously wiser and cheaper to pay a moderate sum for a 
quit-claim to the land we wanted, than to continue an 
expensive and dangerous litigation. In the prosecution 
of this htigation, we had already expended 20,000 lives, 
and more than a hundred millions of dollars. Hence, the 
means of acquiring peaceable possession of the land we 
liad taken was a matter of pohtical and pecuniary calcu- 
lation, and the result affords but little proof of magnani- 
mity. 

The question, whether this territory is not worth all it 
has cost us, will be variously answered. By those who 
regard slavery as the corner-stone of our political liberties, 
who behold in it a di\'ine institution illustrative of the 
wisdom and benevolence of the Deity, and an instrument 
by which those who possess it will be enabled to govern 
the whole RepubHc, and mould its policy for their own 
interest, the acquisition of territory which it was expected 
would give to slavery an indefinite extension, an assured 
perpetuity, and an overwhelming political preponderance, 
would of course be regarded as of priceless value. On 
the other hand, the addition of this territory, should it be 
used for the purpose for which it was acquired, cannot 
but be regarded as a direful curse by all who believe 
slavery to be hostile ahke to the Avill of God and the 
happiness of man. We have had, in the preceding pages, 
most abundant proof that this territory would not have 
been acquired except with a view to the extension of 
slavery ; and it is therefore just and fair, in estimating its 
value compared with its cost, to keep in mind for what 
object that cost was incurred. 
23* 



270 REVIEW or THE MEXICAN WAR. 

The future is hidden from our view, but there is little 
reason for doubting, that not only Texas, but all New 
Mexico, will for a long period be doomed to the ignor- 
ance, degradation, and misery, w^hich are inseparable 
from human bondage. Events unexpected and utterly 
unforeseen, even at the conclusion of the war, have since 
occurred, which will probably exempt at least a portion 
of California from the curse of slavery. That portion, 
however, it is to be feared, will find another and a sore 
curse in its recently-discovered gold. The mineral wealth 
in which it is said to abound v/ill be shared by a promis- 
cuous crowd from foreign lands as well as our own citi- 
zens. The eager search for gold in the mines in which it 
is buried has ever been found hostile to regular industry, 
and to habits of virtue and frugaUty. We have cause to 
apprehend that the population which will be attracted to 
this region will not be of a character to strengthen our 
repubhcan institutions, or in any respect to elevate our 
national character. 

But whatever may be the riches of these mines, and 
whatever may be the consequences resulting from them, 
it should be remembered that they formed no part of the 
motives which prompted the war — no part of the estim- 
ated value of the territories we have seized. The true 
question to be solved in this discussion is, did we pay, in 
blood, and treasure, and in the moral and political evils 
resulting from the war, a higher price than the territories 
were at the time supposed to be worth to us ? 

We had territory enough, as has already been shown, 
for unborn generations; and, with the exception of the 
extension of slavery, no plausible motive could be urged 
for the acquisition. No president would have dared to 
negotiate a treaty of cession at the price of one hundred 
milUons, nor would any Senate have had the hardihood to 



REVIEW OF THE MEXICAN WAR. 271 

ratify so preposterous a treaty, had it been made. Nor 
is it conceivable that Mexico would have refused so mag- 
nificent and prodigal an offer, had it been made. We 
have seen that Mr. Polk offered through Slidell $25,000,- 
000 for the very territoi-y for which the country has paid 
at least five limes that amount in money, in addition to 
blood, misery, and crime. 

The Port of Saint Francisco was the only portion of 
the acquired territory which we needed, as being conven- 
ient to our commerce in the Pacific ; and that might 
doubtless have been acquired by friendly negotiation at a 
moderate price ; or a right of deposit secured by treaty, 
without cost. 



272 REVIEW OF THE MEXICAN WAR 



CHAPTER XXXIV. 



He wliose wisdom and benevolence are alike infinite, has 
taught us not to seek that glory which cometh from man, 
and has assured us, that " that which is highly esteemed 
among men, is an abomination in the sight of God." If 
we believe the record which God has given of himself, 
we must be constrained to admit that, of all the objects 
of human ambition and of human admiration, none can be 
more abominable in his sight than military glory. Sucli 
glory is founded on bravery, skill, and success, in causing 
the misery and death of our fellow-men. It is wholly 
independent of the moral character of the cause in which 
it is acquired. The soldier is by general consent absolved 
from all responsibility for the cruelty, injustice, and wick- 
edness of his employers. Whether he fights for liberty 
or slavery — to defend his own country or to plunder an- 
other — his glory rests upon his bravery, skill, and suc- 
cess, in subduing and slaughtering his enemies. 

Bravery is an animal quality, very common among all 
nations, and its possession has never been confined to the 
wise and good. "Were honor to be awarded to the bravest, 
the most atrocious villains would not unfrequently bear 
the palm. Indeed, few military exploits can, in a scornful 
recklessness of life, compare Avith the assassination of 
Henry the Fourth. What General has, hke Ravilhac, 
coolly and dispassionately welcomed an inevitable, liorii- 
ble and shameful death. ]\Iere bravery is no more en- 



REVIEW OF THE MEXICAN WAR. 273 

titled to praise than any other animal quality, and its 
exercise is often indicative of the vilest passions, and a 
sottish indifference to a future state. The bravery of the 
soldier amid the excitement of the battle field, stimulated 
by fear of shame, and the hope of reward, is pale and 
lustreless compared with that devotion to duty which tri- 
umphs over pain, and danger, and life itself. " I go 
bound in the spirit unto Jerusalem," said the Apostle, 
" not knowing the things that shall befall me there, save 
that the Holy Ghost witnesseth in every city, saying that 
bonds and afflictions abide me. But none of these things 
move me, neither count I my life dear to myself." 

Military skill, of course, arises from experience and in- 
struction combined with natural talent, and, even when 
carried to the highest possible perfection, affords no gua- 
rantee for the presence of a single virtue. Bravery and 
military skill, as well as infamy, are associated with the 
memory of Benedict Arnold. But success is essential to 
military glory. The warrior is crowned only by the hand 
of victory. Yet her gifts are often dispensed without 
regard to the bravery and skill of the recipient, and we 
have seen her permitting one of the most distinguished of 
her favorites, after leading half a million of veterans to 
Russia, secure his personal safety by a sudden flight in 
the night season, and under cover of a borrowed name ; 
and we have seen this same favorite, after wielding the 
most potent sceptre ever grasped by man, wearing out 
his days in an Island- prison. 

The American army, furnished with all the appliances 
of war which science, and art, and wealth could supply, 
gained a series of uninterrupted victories over a nation 
with a small, feeble, and sparse population, but httle re- 
moved from serai-barbarism, without commerce, without 
arts, without money, and without credit. Now, the his- 



27-1 REVIEW or THE ♦mexkan war. 

torical fact, that these victories have been achieved by 
the bravery and skill of the American forces, constitutes 
the GLOKY which is regarded by some, as an ample com- 
pensation for all the misery and wickedness resulting from 
the war ! This glory gives no food to the hungry, no 
raiment to the naked, and adds nothing to the wisdom, 
virtue and comfort of the American people. We are 
assured, however, that it will give us peace and security 
by deterring aggression. All history bears testimony to 
the utter futility of such an expectation. Military glory 
ever renders its possessor arrogant and intolerant, and 
others jealous and vindictive. Powerful martial nations 
are those which enjoy the least peace ; assailing others, 
if not assailed themselves. 

Let us listen to the peans of triumph as chanted on the 
floor of the United States Senate by General Cass: " Our 
flag has become' a victorious standard, borne by marching 
columns over the hills and valleys, and through the cities 
and towns and lields of a jwivcrfid (!) nation, in a career 
of success of which few examples can be found in ancient 
or modern warfare.'' After giving the dates of twenty- 
eight victories, he exclaims, " If we recorded our history 
upon stone, as was done in the primitive ages of the 
world, we should en<:frave this series of c'lorious deeds 
upon tables of marble. But we shall do better ; we shall 
engrave it upon our hearts, and we shall commit it to the 
custody of the press, whose monuments, fiail and feeble 
as they appear, are more enduring than brass or marble, 
than statues or pyramids, or the proudest monuments 
erected by human hands. Let modern philanthropists talk 
as they please, the instincts of nature are truer than the 
doctrines they preach. MiUtary renown is one of the 
great elements of national strength, as it is one of the 
proudest sources of gratification to every man who loves 



REVIEW OF THE MEXICAN WAR. 275 

his country, and desires to see her occupy a distinguished 
position among the nations of the earth."* 

It seems unfortunate for the honor and glory of our 
country that our military operations are conducted on a 
Lilliputian scale, and our military renown is so very cheaply 
acquired. The trophies gained in our Mexican war, even 
if engraven on marble, would look exceedingly diminutive 
compared to some, which, however the General may sup- 
pose to the contrary, are really recorded in the history of 
modern warfare. Had it been the General's good fortune 
to belong to " the Grand Army," his patriotic heart would 
have swelled with still prouder gratification, while listen- 
ing at Austerlitz, to the glowing applause of his Emperor : 
** Soldiers! lam content with you; you have covered 
your eagles with immortal glory. An army of one hun- 
dred thousand men, commanded by the Emperors of Rus- 
sia and Austria, have been, in less than four hours, cut to 
pieces and dispersed — forty stand of colors — the stand- 
ards of the imperial guard of Russia — one hundred and 
twenty pieces of cannon, twenty Generals, and more than 
thirty thousand prisoners, are the results of this day, for 
ever celebrated. Henceforth you have no longer any 
rivals to fear." With what dehght would he have drank 
in the glorious story, related to the army on entering 
Berlin : " Soldiers— the forests, the defiles of Franconia, 
the Saale and the Elbe, which your fathers had not tra- 
versed in seven years, you have traversed in seven days, 
and in this interval you have fought four fights, and one 
pitched battle. You have sent the renown of your vic- 
tories before you to Potsdam and to Berhn. You have 
made sixty thousand prisoners, taken sixty-five standards, 
six hundred pieces of cannon, three fortresses, and more 
than twenty Generals. And yet nearly one half of you regret 
* Cons;. Globe, January 5th, 1848. 



276 REVIEW OF THE MEXICAN WAR. 

not having fired a shot. All the provinces of the Prussian 
monarchy, as far as the banks of the Oder, will be in your 
power." At Friedland, his soul would have been " satis- 
fied as with fat things," as the address of the hero fell upon 
his ears. '• Soldiers — in ten days you have taken one 
hundred and twenty pieces of cannon, seven standards, 
killed, wounded, or captured, sixty thousand Russian pri- 
soners ; taken from the enemy all its hospitals, all its 
magazines, all its ambulances, the fortress of Konigsburg, 
the three hundred vessels that were in the port laden with 
every species of munitions, and one hundred and sixty 
thousand muskets that England had sent to arm our 
enemies." 

The vast amount of glory and misery detailed in these 
addresses, affords a significant comment on " the instincts 
of nature," and the pacific doctrines of " modern philan- 
thropists." 

Military renown, the Senator tells us, is one of the 
greatest elements of national strength, and the proudest 
source of gratification to every man who loves his coun- 
try, and desires to see her occupy a distinguished position 
among the nations of the earth. The first assertion is 
contradicted by history, and the latter by the declarations 
of thousands and tens of thousands of men, whose virtue 
and benevolence are unquestioned. If military renown 
ever belonged to any people, the precious boon was en- 
joyed by the French under Buonaparte. Yet France was, 
at that very time, bleeding and agonizing at every pore, — 
her commerce destroyed, — her manufactures languishing, 
her liberties crushed, her young men dragged by the con- 
scription from the paternal hearth, and offered a bloody 
sacrifice on the altar of personal ambition ; and finally 
this same great element of national strength consigned 
the nation to the custody of a foreign army, and its mighty 



REVIEW OF THE MEXICAN WAR. 277 

emperor, tc^ a lonely rock. It was on that rock, and 
while brooding over his fallen greatness, that this scourge 
of Europe uttered the memorable words, " The love of 
glory is like the bridge which Satan threw over chaos, to 
pass from Hell to Paradise" Like that fabled struc- 
ture, it has indeed furnished to " woes unnumbered," a 
ready entrance into our unhappy world. In losing her 
hero, and her glory, France parted with her sorest 
plagues ; and humbled in her pride, and despoiled of her 
conquests, she enjoyed for a series of years, a degree of 
peace, comfort, and prosperity to which she had been a 
stranger from the foundation of her monarchy. 



278 REVIEW OF THE MEXICAN WAR. 



CHAPTER XXXV. 



PATRIOTISM. 



Immediately after the expulsion of the Persians from 
Greece, the fleets of the States in aUiance with Athens, 
were collected in a neighboring port. Themistocles ap- 
peared in the Athenian Assembly, and announced that he 
had a plan for securing the power and glory of Athens ; 
but, that secrecy being essential to its success, he could 
not make it public, and asked for instructions. He was 
authorized to communicate it to Aristides, and, with his 
approbation, to put it in execution. The latter, on learn- 
ing the plan, reported, that nothing could possibly con- 
duce more to the grandeur and prosperity of Athens, but 
nothing could possibly be more unjust. The Assembly, 
without inquiring into particulars, ordered that the plan, 
whatever it was, should be abandoned. Which party 
displayed the purest patriotism — the Assembly, which re- 
fused to augment the power of the Repubhc by an act of 
injustice, or the illustrious scoundrel who proposed ren- 
dering his country the mistress of Greece by firing the 
assembled fleets of her allies ? Should the question be 
decided by the sentiment so generally adopted by a 
christian people, " our country right or wrong," the de- 
cision would be adverse to the pagan Athenians. But 
perhaps it will be said, that the sentiment is intended to 
apj)ly only in a state of war, and that it is only after a 
declaration of hostilities that we are bound to support 
and vindicate the acts and pretensions of tlie Government, 



REVIEW OF THE MEXICAN WAR. 279 

however Mllainous. It is not easy to understand, how 
the act of a King or a Congress can dissolve those obli- 
gations of truth, justice, and mercy which the Creator 
has imposed upon all his creatures. Yet the violation 
and contempt of those obligations, for the supposed in- 
terests of the public, seem by many to be regarded as 
the test of patriotism. 

Few Airtues are more universally professed, few are 
more imperfectly apprehended, and few are more rarely 
practised, than patriotism. From the time of Absalom 
to the last electioneering meeting, patriotic professions 
have been the cheap materials from which demagogues 
have attempted to construct their fortunes. 

Counterfeits imply an original. There is such a virtue 
as patriotism, acknowledged and inculcated by both natu- 
ral and revealed rehgion ; and it is but a development of 
that benevolence which springs from moral goodness. To 
do good unto all men as we have opportunity, is an in- 
junction invested with divine authority. Generally our 
ability to do good is confined to our families, neighbors, 
and countrymen ; and the natural promptings of our 
hearts lead us to select these in preference to more dis- 
tant objects, for the subjects of our kind offices. Our 
benevolence, when directed to our countrymen at large, 
constitutes patriotism ; and its exercise is as much con- 
trolled by the laws of morality, as when confined to our 
neighbors or our families. A voice from Heaven has for- 
bidden us, " to do evil that good may come." The sen- 
timent, '• our country right or wrong," is as profligate and 
impious as would be the sentiment, " our church, or our 
party, right or wrong." If it be rebelhon against God to 
violate his laws for the benefit of one individual, however 
dear to us, not less sinful must it be to commit a similar act 
for the benefit of any number of individuals. If we may 



280 REVIEW OF THE MEXICAN WAR. 

not, in kindness to tlie liighwayman, assist him in robbing 
and murdering the traveller, what divine law permits us 
to aid any number of our own countrymen in robbing and 
murdering other people ? He who engages in a defen- 
sive "war, with a full conviction of its necessity and justice, 
may be impelled by patriotism, by a benevolent desire to 
save the lives, and property, and rights of his country- 
men. But, if he beheves the war to be one of invasion 
and conquest, and utterly unjust, by taking part in it, he 
assumes its guilt, and becomes responsible for its crimes. 
But soldiers, it is said, are bound to obey orders, with- 
out inquiring into their morahty. Where enlistments are 
voluntary, this obligation is assumed, not imposed, and it 
may well be questioned, whether any man is at liberty to 
promise unqualified obedience to others. But the obliga- 
tion of the soldier, does not affect the duties of the citi- 
zen. The latter is free from the promises of the former. 
The Government has declared a war of invasion and 
conquest, one which the citizen believes to be most 
iniquitous — is he required by duty, that is, by the com- 
mands of God, voluntarily to aid the Government in 
prosecuting such a war, by the offer of his money and 
services ? If he is, then all people are under a divine 
obligation to aid their respective Governments in all their 
wars, however piratical, and waged for any purpose, 
however detestable. Such indeed, is the sentiment ad- 
vanced in the following lines. 

" Stand thou by thy country's quarrel, 

Be that quarrel what it may ; 

He shall wear the greenest laurel, 

Who shall greatest zeal display " 
Here we have an American poet, who would exult in the 
massacre of Glencoe, sing peans to the Duke of Alva, 
and crown with the greenest laurels the butchers of the 
Albigenses. 



REVIEW OF THE MEXICAN WAR. 281 

'* Our country right or wrong," is rebellion against 
the moral Government of Jehovah, and treason to the 
cause of civil and religious liberty, of justice and 
humanity. 

Actions springing from mere selfishness, rarely com- 
mand the respect of mankind, and the patriotism, that is 
self-denying and costly, is more likely to be genuine than 
tliat which is lucrative. Tried by this test, there is com- 
paratively but little patriotism in the world. Tlie dema- 
ffoo'ue, who echoes the clamor of the mob, and thus 
opens to himself an avenue to wealth and power, gives a 
very inconclusive proof of his patriotism ; Avhile he who, 
in promoting what he believes to be the public weal, 
exposes himself to obloquy and loss, may reasonably be 
regarded as governed by disinterested motives. 

One of the most universal of popular delusions, is that 
which awards patriotism to the soldier. But soldiers 
frequently engage in Avars in which their country has no 
interest whatever ; and, although military skill, and valor 
of a high order, have often been displayed by mercenary 
troops, they are surely not entitled to the meed of patri- 
otism. 

It is well-known, that multitudes adopt the military 
profession as a livelihood, with the expectation of pay, 
promotion, and distinction. It is not obvious that in 
selecting this profession, they are more influenced by a 
desire to do good to their country, than the lawyer, phy- 
sician, divine, or mechanic. No class of men have in the 
history of the world, been more ready instruments of 
oppression, cruelty, and tyrany, than soldiers ; and 
scarcely ever have the liberties of a people been de- 
stroyed, but through their agency. Rarely, indeed, have 
the representatives of a people convened in Senates or 
Parliaments, surrendered their rights to an usurper, except 



282 REVIEW OF THE MEXICAN WAR. 

when overawed and compelled by military force. That 
soldiers have been governed by a high sense of patriotism 
it would be folly to deny, but still greater folly to affirm 
that such is genemlly the case. 

We are fond of dweUing on the patriotism of the sol- 
diers of the Revolution ; and yet we have high authority 
to prove that, in many instances, their claim to this virtue 
was exceedingly equivocal. Washington, in a long letter to 
Congress, 24th September, 1776, gives a melancholy 
picture of the demoralization of the army : '* Thirty or 
forty soldiers will desert at a time, and of late a practice 
prevails of a most alarming nature, and which will, if it 
cannot be checked, prove fatal both to the country and 
the army. I mean the infamous practice of plundering ; 
for under the idea of Tory properly, or property that may 
fall into the hands of the enemy, no man is secure in his 
effects, and scarcely in his person. In order to get at them, 
we have several instances of people being frightened out 
of their houses, under pretence of their houses being 
ordered to be burned, and this is done with a view of 
seizing the goods ; nay, in order that the villainy may be 
more "effectually concealed, some houses have already been 
burned to cover the theft. I have used my utmost 
endeavors to stop this horrid practice; but under the 
present lust after plunder, and want of laws to punish 
offenders, I might almost as well attempt to move Mount 
Atlas.'' He then goes on to detail the difhculty he had, 
in getting a court-martial to convict an officer for stealing. 
Again, on the 3d May, 1777, he writes to Congress : " The 
desertions from our army of laA^eh-ayeheQUvery considerable.^* 
The same year, Adjutant-General Reed, writes to 
Congress : " When the hurry of retreat or action made 
it difficult to go through the forms of trial, all restraints 
seemed to be broken through. A spirit of desertion, 



REVIEW OF THE MEXICAN WAR. 283 

cowardice, plunder, and shrinking from duty, when attend- 
ed with fatigue or danger, prevailed but too generally 
through the whole army."* 

It is true, a soldier perils his life ; but other men do 
the same for money, without any reference to the good of 
their country. Says Washington, writing to Congress, 
February 9th, 1776: "Three things prompt men to a 
regular discharge of their duty in time of action — natural 
bravery, hope of reward, and fear of punishment. The 
two first are common to the uninstructed and the disci- 
plined soldier ; but the latter most obviously distinguishes 
the one from the other. A coward, when taught to 
believe that, if he breaks his ranks and abandons his 
colors, he will be punished with death by his own party, 
will take his chance against the enemy." Washington was 
too well acquainted with human nature, and too much 
devoted to truth, to attribute martial valor to patriotism. 
The patriotism of our soldiers in Mexico, is a never-faihng 
topic of eulogy with our political aspirants ; but from a 
report of the Secretary of War, made 8th April, 1848, it 
appears that the desertions in Mexico, up to the 31st 
December, 1847, so far as they could be ascertained from 
confessedly very imperfect returns, amounted very nearly 
to five thousand, about one-sixteenth of the whole number 
of troops employed. The newspapers represent the de- 
sertions, in the early part of 1848, as very numerous. 

The records of history, as well as daily observation, 
teach us, that patriotism is as rarely the virtue of politi- 
cians as it is of soldiers. " To the victors belong the 
spoils," now the avowed maxim of American parties, 
reveals the true object of multitudes who are vociferous 
in their professions of devotion to the public interest. 
An active politician, who is not the possessor or the 
* Life of Reed, L 240. 



284 REVIEW OF THE MEXICAN WAR. 

expectant of office, is a personage rarely to be found in 
our Republic. To pursue measures supposed to be 
popular, affords a very uncertain indication of ^nrtuous 
motives. 

It seems impossible that any candid person acquainted 
with the origin and causes of the Mexican war, shoidd in- 
sist that its necessity and justice were so palpable as to 
exclude all doubt : or that the assertion that the Mexicans 
commenced the war by invading the United States, and 
shedding American blood upon American soil, is sup- 
ported by such irrefragable testimony, that no well-in- 
formed man can honestly deny its truth. Many of the 
democratic members of Congress, in their reproaches of 
the Whigs for voting for a war Avhich they denounced as 
unjust, declared such a war to be the greatest of crimes, 
and those who prosecuted it, guilty of murder. Even 
Mr. Polk's organ thus abused the Whigs for voting thanks 
to victorious Generals : — " None but the Whigs would 
think of rewarding men volunteering to fight in a war un- 
constitutionally commenced by one man, and prosecuted 
in contempt of national honor." Yet this same ready 
tool had been lavish of his charges of treason against all 
who opposed the war, whatever might be their conscien- 
tious opinion of its character. But if an unjust war be 
indeed a crime, involving its authors and abettors in the 
guilt of murder, it is most remarkable that not one Demo- 
crat in two successive Congresses, found his conscience 
burthened with the momentous question, whether the 
Mexican war was or was not unjust ! Probably not two 
of these gentlemen entertained precisely the same opinion 
on the great truths of scripture, yet not a solitary indi\T:- 
dual of the party saw aught but verities in Mr. Polk's 
messages ! When we remember the diversities of the 
human mind, and the complicated and contradictory tes- 



REVIEW OF THE MEXICAN WAR. 285 

timony in relation to the origin of the war, and the wide 
difference of opinion respecting it, throughout the nation, 
the unanimous, unfaltering faith of these gentlemen is a 
moral phenomenon. Their faith, however, was counted 
to them, if not for righteousness, at Iqast for obedience, 
and opened to many of them a vista to future office and 
power. Under such circumstances, their support of the war 
cannot be taken as irresistible proof of their patriotism. 
Nor is the evidence of the patriotism of their opponents af- 
forded by their vote for an acknowledged falsehood, and 
their grant of men and money to wage a war admitted to be 
iniquitous, of a more conclusive character. The Demo- 
crats, according to the orthodox rule, showed their faith 
by their works, while the unbeheving Whigs rested 
their justification on their works alone. Denying the 
necessity, expediency, and justice of the war, as well 
as the wisdom and integrity of Mr. Polk, they surren- 
dered to him the army and navy, with an additional force 
of 50,000 men, and all the money he desired, to carry 
jSre and sword into Mexico, and to dismember that Re- 
public. To have done all this with a single desire to 
benefit their own country, would have been at least a 
very questionable benevolence, and a very ambiguous 
patriotism. 

Mr. Clay, the distinguished and beloved leader of the 
Whig party, in a public speech delivered in Kentucky, 
declared that the preamble to the war bill, " falsely 
attributed the commencement of the war to the act of 
Mexico." He then added — " I have no doubt of the pa- 
triotic motives of those who, after struggling to divest the 
bill of that flagrant error, found themselves constrained 
to vote for it ; but I must say, that no earthly considera- 
tion would have ever tempted me to vote for a bill with a 
PALPABLE FALSEHOOD stamped ou its faco. Almost idol- 



286 REVIEW OF THE MEXICAN WAR. 

izing truth, as I do, I never, never could have voted for 
the bill." Of course, Mr. Clay's patriotism so far differs 
from that of the gentlemen alluded to, that it cannot lead 
him to sacrifice truth for the cause of his country. He 
then goes on to remark, that the war of 1812, against 
Great Britain, was of a widely different character from 
the present, being s^just war, and so admitted by its op- 
ponents, who, from motives of policy, refused to support 
it, and that in consequence, " they lost, and justly lost 
the public confidence," that is, they lost their political 
ascendency. He then asks the following very significant 
question : " Has not the apprehension of a similar fate, 
in a case widely different, repressed a fearless expression 
of their real sentiments in some of our public men .^" This 
interrogatory has all the force of an assertion. To what 
public men does he refer ? Surely not to Mr. Polk and 
his party. His remarks irresistibly confine his question 
to the " some " Whigs in Congress, who, from fear of 
losing their popularity, as the Federalists had before done, 
voted for the " palpable falsehood," the war and the sup- 
plies. If he intended to intimate, and on no other suppo- 
sition is his language intelligible, that these Whigs voted 
as they did from selfish considerations, it is deeply to be 
lamented that a man almost idolizing truth, should have 
hazarded the declaration, that he had no doubt of their 
patriotic motives. We have already noticed the frank 
admission of the American Review, a Whig organ, that on 
this occasion the Whig members seemed more soHcitous 
about " personal popularity'' than for the cause of " truth 

AND RIGHT." 

Subsequent developments have abundantly confinned 
the intimations of Mr. Clay and of the Review. It has 
been shown by the declarations of certain Whig members 
of Congress, pubhshed in the newspapers, that on the 



REVIEW OF THE MEXICAN WAR. 287 

day war was declared, they were urged to vote for the 
bill, on the ground that " it would be had policy to op- 
pose the bill," and that this opinion was supported by a 
reference to the political fate of those who had opposed 
the war of 1812 against Great Britain. In a dehberate 
consent to sacrifice the peace of the country, to squander 
its treasures and its blood, and to trample under foot both 
truth and justice, from considerations of party policy, and 
for the purpose of acquiring personal popularity, and with 
it, office and its emoluments, it is not easy to detect those 
'' imtriotic motives'' which Mr. Clay very courteously and 
undoubtingly attributes to the Whig members who voted 
for the war. 

On the 13th May, 1846, Congress voted that " By the 
act of the Republic of Mexico, war existed between that 
Repubhc and the United States." On the 31st January, 
1848, a new House of Representatives voted, that this 
same war was " unconstitutionally and unnecessarily be- 
gun by the President of the United States." In the 
affirmative of this latter vote, we find recorded the names 
of fifteen Whig Members who had belonged to the late 
house, and whose names are also recorded in the affirma- 
tive of the former vote. The last declaration, however 
truthful, was no doubt considered equally good policy 
with the first, inasmuch as a presidential election was 
approaching, and it was expedient to throw odium on the 
rival party, and on Mr. Polk its acknowledged head. 

One of the gentlemen who voted for both declarations 
thus expressed his opinion of this self-same war : " En- 
tertaining these views upon the origin and purposes of 
the war, I can consider it in no other light than as a 
NATIONAL CRIME ; but, independent of this, it is- an of- 
fence against the moral spirit of our time, a retrograde 
step in the movement of humanity, a violent wresting of 



288 REVIEW OF THE MEXICAN WAR. 

our national energy and national resources, to unnatural 
and mischievous uses. I have no desire that a single 
Mexican wife should be made a widow, a single Mexican 
child an orphan ; and I would rather that my country 
should sit down in honest shame, than purchase, at the 
price of rapine, and tears, and blood, the ' unjust glory ' 
of waving her flag over all the wide continent that 
stretches between the stormy Atlantic and the shores of 
the tranquil sea : 

' One murder makes a villain, thousands a hero.' "* 

A little timely reflection might have warned this gen- 
tleman that the fifty thousand troops he voted to place 
under the orders of Mr. Polk to prosecute " a national 
crime," might peradventure cause many Mexican widows 
and orphans, acquire by conquest "unjust glory," and 
make more than one " hero." 

He alone who governs himself by the laws of God will 
act consistently ; while he who follows the ever-varying 
monitions of party policy will often be found wandering 
in tortuous paths. 

History and daily observation compel the conviction, 
that patriotism is more frequently professed than prac- 
tised, and that much which assumes the name, and passes 
current with the world, is utterly spurious. Yet it is also 
true, that the patriotism which seeks the public good, in 
obedience to the Divine will, and in accordance with the 
precepts of the Gospel, far from being an imaginary, is a 
real and actiA'e virtue. It is, indeed, to be found in camps 
and senates, but these are not its exclusive nor its favorite 
haunts. This patriotism inspires many a prayer for the 
peace, virtue, and happiness of the nation, and prompts 
innumerable efforts and costly sacrifices of time and money 
for the temporal and spiritual welfare of our fellow-coun- 

* Speech of Mr. Marsh, Feb. 18, 1818.— Con. Globe. 



REVIEW OF THE MEXICAN WAR. 289 

trymen. Were we permitted to trace etFects to their 
causes, in the moral goveniment of the world, we should 
doubtless find that much of our prosperity as a people 
flows from the labors of faithful pastors, self-denying 
Sunday-school teachers, and sincere, zealous, but humble 
Christian men and women. It is chiefly by such patriot- 
ism, gentle and noiseless as the dew of Heaven, that our 
land is clothed with moral verdure and beauty, and that 
those who sit under their own vine, with none to make 
them afraid, are indebted for the peace and security they 
enjoy. 

Patriotism springing from obedience to God, guided by 
His laws, and exercised in official station for the national 
welfare, at the certain and willing loss of popular favor 
and personal advantage, is perhaps the highest perfection 
to which this virtue can attain. Our own recent history 
affords an illustrious instance of such patriotism. We 
proceed to trace the course of John Qdincy Adams, be- 
cause we find in it a sanction for almost every moral and 
political sentiment maintained in these pages; and also 
because his example is well calculated to quicken and to 
purify the love of country, and to convey to all lessons of 
virtue and true wisdom. 
25 



290 REVIEW OF THE MEXICAN WAR. 



CHAPTER XXXVI. 

JOHN QUIN'CY ADAMS. 

Custom has sanctioned certain funeral honors on the de- 
cease of a man who has been President of the Republic, 
which, like the salute given to a military officer, affords 
no evidence of respect for his personal character. The 
honors paid to the memory of Adams were the outpour- 
ings of the heart of a great nation. The strife of faction 
"was stilled, the voice of party was dumb, and the whole 
American people acknowledged and deplored the depart- 
ure of a PATRIOT. It is interesting, and may be useful, to 
inquire into the cause of this wonderful and universal at- 
testation, in the midst of high political excitement, to the 
merits of a public man. 

Mr. Adams had long been in public life ; but his career, 
for the most part, had* not been calculated to win the 
affections of the people. It was commenced in the Fede- 
ral party. He incurred the deep hostility of that party 
by abandoning it at a critical and important juncture, and 
exposed his motives to suspicion b}^ accepting ofldce from 
his late opponents. The democratic party, which had 
welcomed him into its bosom, and had abundantly re- 
warded what was deemed his apostacy, he abandoned in 
turn, and, as a Whig, became its active and zealous foe. 
Much of his life was passed at foreign courts ; and, al 
though always able, he gathered no unusual laurels in tht 
field of diplomacy. Having never borne arms, no mili- 
tary halo encircled his brow. In 1824, at a period of 



REVIEW OF THE MEXICAN WAR. 291 

singular party disorganization, lie was one of four candi- 
dates for the Presidency. He received fewer votes than 
one of his competitors, but, as neither had a majority of 
the whole number, the election devolved on the House of 
Representatives. By that body he was chosen President 
by the smallest possible majority, and the vote of one of 
the largest States was decided in his favor by a single 
ballot. Instantly the whole country resounded with 
charges against him of base corruption. His administra- 
tion, although pure, did not give general satisfaction. He 
was a candidate for the succeeding term, and was de- 
feated by a large majority ; and he retired to private life, 
one of the most unpopular of all the prominent politicians 
of the country. 

In 1831, to the surprise of all, and to the mortification 
of many of his friends, he accepted a seat in the House of 
Representatives. He came there avowedly, to use his 
own words, " bound in allegiance to no party, whether 
sectional or political." He was thus deprived of that 
countenance and support which parties give both to their 
leaders and their tools. He was, it is true, confessedly a 
Whig ; but so independent was his course, that he was 
continually ridiculed as " running off the track," and re- 
garded as a man not to be depended on. He exerted 
but little influence in the House, and attracted but little 
attention till about the year 1836. 

At this time the agitation of the anti-slavery question 
roused the holders of slaves to great exasperation, and 
alarmed the two political parties at the North, lest their 
supposed sympathy with the cause of human freedom 
might wejiken the friendship of their southern allies, and 
deprive them of their cooperation in the pursuit of office. 
Hence Whigs and Democrats contended which should 
show the most devotion to slavery, the most zeal in sup- 



292 REVIEW OF THE MEXICAN WAR. 

pressing the liberty of the press, and the freedom of dis- 
cussion. Both whig and democratic Governors assailed 
the Abolitionists in their official Messages, threatening 
them with the penalties of the law. Mobs were raised in 
the large cities, by the efforts of rival newspapers and 
politicians. Printing presses were destroyed, individuals 
assaulted, churches sacked, and the freedom of the Post- 
Office shamefully invaded with the connivance of a demo- 
cratic President and cabinet, postmasters being permit- 
ted to abstract from the mails whatever they deemed 
offensive to the slaveholders. But vain would it be to 
suppress anti-slavery tracts and newspapers, if a few in- 
dependent members were permitted to make anti-slavery 
speeches on the floor of Congress, and which the press 
would spread on tlie wings of the wind as a portion of 
the ordinary debates. Such speeches had been made, 
and they were called forth by anti-slavery petitions. 
Hence, it was resolved to abolish the right of petition, and 
the freedom of discussion in Congress, on all subjects re- 
lating to slavery. It was on the 26th May, 1836, that 
the House of Representatives passed, without debate, the 
celebrated rule, known from the name of its author, as the 
Pinkney Gag. From this moment, utterly discarding all 
considerations of political influence, Mr. Adams devoted 
himself to the defence of constitutional hberty, assailed by 
the southern slaveholders, and their northern alUes.* On 
the question of the gag-rule, prostrating alike the right of 
petition, and the freedom of discussion on the floor of the 
House, Mr. Adams, being precluded by the previous ques- 
tion from offering any remark, refused to vote, exclaiming, 
when his name was called, " I consider this resolution as 
a direct violation of the rules of this House, of the Con- 

* Of seventy-nine northern Democrats, sixty-two voted with 
the slaveholders, and only one of forty-four northern Whigs. 



REVIIAV OF lAilZ MEXICAN WAR. 293 

stitution of the United States, and of the rights of my 
constituents." He then demanded that his refusal to 
vote, and the reason assigned, should be entered upon the 
minutes. The boldness and independence which he exhi- 
bited on this occasion, so novel and unexpected, so ut- 
terly at variance with the usual deferential submission of 
northern politicians to southern dictation, instantly riveted 
upon him the gaze of his countrymen, nor was that gaze 
intermitted, till twelve years afterwards, it beheld his 
honored and revered remains deposited in the tomb of 
his ancestors. He declared, in the presence of its authors 
and supporters, that the gag-rule was " an infamous reso- 
lution." He fearlessly imputed it to corrupt motives, and 
waged against it, a most vigorous and unceasing warfare, 
in speeches, in public addresses, in letters through the 
press to his own constituents, and to the people of the 
United States, till in Decem.ber, 1845, he had the glory 
of carrying a resolution for its abolition. 

Of all abominations in the sight of southern members 
of Congress, the alleged right of slaves to offer petitions 
to the national legislature, was the most atrocious, striking, 
in their opinion, a fatal blow at the authority of the mas- 
ters. Mr. Adams, however, told the House, " If slaves 
were laboring under grievances and afflictions not incident 
to their condition as slaves, but to their natures as human 
beings, born to trouble as the sparks fly upward, and it 
were in the power and competency of the House to afford 
them relief, and if the House would permit me, I most 
assuredly would present their petition ; and, if that avowal 
deserves the censure of the House, I am ready to receive 
it. I would not deny the right of petition to slaves. I 
would not deny it to a horse or a dog, if they could arti- 
culate their sufferings, and I could relieve them." 

When threatened with an indictment for his anti- slavery 
25* 



294 RLViKW oi- I'JiE Mexican wap. 

course by a southern Member, he replied, " Did the gen- 
tleman think to frighten me from my purpose by his 
threat of a grand jury ? He mistook his man. I am not 
to be frightened from the discharge of a duty by the in- 
dignation of the gentleman, nor by all the grand juries in 
the Universe." 

As slavery demanded for its protection, the suppres- 
sion of the right of petition and the liberty of speech, he 
freely canvassed its claims to such sacrifices, on the part 
of the free states. He spoke of it as " The God-defying 
institution." Mr. Clay had contended that that was pro- 
perty which the laws made so. "The soul of man," said 
Mr. Adams, " cannot by human laws, be made the pro- 
perty of another. The owner of a slave is the owner of a 
living corpse ; but he is not the owner of a man." He de- 
clared, " unyielding hostility against slavery is interwoven 
with every pulsation of my heart. Resistance against it, 
feeble and inefficient as the last accents of a failing voice 
may be, shall still be heard, while the power of utterance 
shall remain." In the presence of the slaveholding mem- 
bers he avowed, that in his prayers to Almighty God he 
daily invoked Him for the aboHtion of slavery. The in- 
ternal traffic did not escape his anathema : " If," said he, 
**the African slave trade was piracy, the x^merican slave 
trade could not be innocent, nor could its aggravated tur- 
pitude be denied." From the admitted wickedness of the 
African slave trade, he very logically deduced the wicked- 
ness of slavery itself. " If," said he, " the African slave 
trade be piracy, human reason cannot resist, nor can hu- 
man sophistry refute, the conclusion, that the essence of 
the crime consists not in the trade, but in slavery. Trade 
has nothing in itself criminal by the law of nature." 

At a time when politicians and pretended patriots were 
endeavoring to suppress the discussion of slavery, as fata) 



REVIEW OF THE MEXICAN WAR. 295 

to the preservation of the Union, he delivered a Fourth of 
July address, in which he declared, that the "free and 
unrestrained discussion of the rights and wrongs of sla- 
very, far from endangering the union of these States, is 
the only condition upon which the Union can be preserved 
and perpetuated. Are you to bless the earth beneath 
your feet because it spurns the footstep of a slave, and 
then to choke the utterance of your voice lest the sound 
of liberty should be re-echoed from the Palmetto groves, 
with the discordant notes of disunion ? No ! No !" 

In a letter to his constituents, he thus desciibed the. 
state of the country : " What see we now ? Conmiu- 
nities of slaveholding braggarts of freedom, setting at 
defiance the laws of nature and of nature's God. restorino- 
slavery where it had been extinguished (Texas), and vainly 
dreaming to make it eternal. Forming in the sacred name 
of hberty, constitutions of government, and interdicting to 
the legislative authority, the most blessed of all human 
powers, the power of giving liberty to the slave ! Gov- 
ernors of States urging upon their legislatures, to make 
the exercise of the freedom of speech to propagate the 
rights of the slave to freedom, felony without benefit of 
clergy. Ministers of the Gospel, like the priest in the 
parable, coming and looking at the bleeding victim of 
the highway robber, and passing on the other side ! or 
baser still, perverting the pages of the sacred volume, to 
turn into a code of slavery the very Word of God ! In- 
furiated mobs murdering the peaceful minister of Christ, 
for the purpose of extinguishing the fight of a printing 
press, and burning with unhallowed fire, the hall of free- 
dom, the orphan school, and the Cliurch devoted to the 
worship of God! and last of all, both Houses of Con- 
gress turning a deaf ear to hundieds of thousands of pe- 
titioners, and quibbling away their duty to read and listen 



296 REVIEW OF THE iMEXICAN WAR. 

and consider in doubtful disputations whether they shall 
receive, or, receiving, refuse to read or hear the complaints 
of their fellow- citizens and fellow-men !" In a letter to 
the people of the United States, he avowed his humiliation 
in beholding " the ignominious transformation of the peo- 
ple who had commenced their career by the Declaration of 
Independence, into a nation of slaveholders, and slave- 
breeders." 

Addressing the slaveholders on the floor of Congress, 
he said, " I know well that the doctrine of the Declaration 
of Independence, that ' all men are bom free and equal,* 
is held at the South as incendiary doctrine, and deserves 
lynching — that the Declaration itself is a farago of abstrac- 
tions. I know all this perfectly, and that is the very reason 
I want to put my foot upon such doctrine, that I want to 
drive it back to its fountain — its corrupt fountain — and pur- 
sue it, until it is made to disappear from this land, and from 
the world. Sir, this philosophy of the South, has done 
more to blacken the character of this oountry in Europe, 
than all other causes put together. They point to us as a 
nation of liars and hypocrites, who publish to the world 
that all men are born free and equal, and then hold a large 
portion of our own population in bondage." Again, " As 
its (slavery) basis rests exclusively upon physical force, to 
physical force will it resort, not only to sustain its own 
institutions, but to encroach upon the institutions of free- 
dom elsewhere. This disposition is already manifested in 
many ways in the brutal treatment expeiienced by citizens 
of the free States, if but suspected of favoring abolition 
in the slaveholding jurisdictions, in the insolvent demands 
upon the free States to deliver np their citizens for alleged 
offences against the slave laws — in the conspiiing of Ame- 
rican slaveholders in a foreign land against the life of one 



REVIEW OF THE MEXICAN WAR. 2t)7 

of the great champions of human hberty* — in the rufSan 
threats of assiissination addressed to members of Congress 
for daring to present your petiiions — in the surrender of 
the post-office to lynching law — in the murder of Lovejoy 
—in the burning of Pennsylvania Hall— in Southern com- 
mercial conventions to force the National channels of trade 
from North to South — in Southern railways and banking; 
companies combined to hnk the mammon of the West, to 
to the Moloch of the South — and in the strains of com- 
mendation upon all land-robbing practices of the Anglo- 
Saxons, and their virtuous abhorrence of Custom-Houses, 
embellished by their blackleg revenue and punctuality for 
their debts of honors 

Utterly discarding the base sentiment, " Our country, 
right or wrong," he denounced the foreign policy of the 
administration, in resisting the claim made by Great Britain 
to visit vessels bearing the national flag, and suspected 
of being engaged in the African slave trade, to ascertain 
whether the flag was not fraudulently assumed. He as- 
serted that measures were systematically pursued or pro- 
jected to force the country into a war with England, for 
the protection of the slave trade. *' Under the pretext of 
resisting the right of search, the most false principles 
have been advanced as the law of nations. Great Britain 
has never claimed the right to search American vessels. 
No such thing — on the contrary, she has explicitly dis- 
claimed any such pretension, and that to the whole extent 
we can possibly demand. We deny to her the right to 
board pirates who hoist the American flag — yes, to search 
British vessels, too, that have been declared pirates by 
the law of nations — pirates by the law of Great Britain- 
pirates by the laws of the United States — that is the de= 

* In reference of the attempt of Mr. Stevenson, from Virginia, 
and Hamilton, of South Carolina, made in Londoii to force Daciei 
O'Connell into a duel. 



298 . REVIKW OF THE MEXKAS WAR. 

mand of our late Minister to London. Now, behind all 
this exceeding zeal against the right of search is the ques- 
tion not brought to view, and that is, the support and per- 
petuation of the African slave trade. That is the real 
question between the ministers of America and Great 
Britain— whether slave-trading pirates, by merely hoisting 
the American flag, shall be saved from capture. I must 
say, that if it be true that the interference of our Minister 
in France (General Cass) was the occasion of the refusal 
by France to ratify the Quintuple treaty (fw the suppres- 
sion of the African slave trade), I do not hold that pro- 
cedure in much admii-ation: it comes too near success in 
doing wrong." 

Now it should be recollected, that this denial of the right 
of visitation, and the interference of General Cass, were 
both sustained by the Whig party, through Mr. Webster 
then Secretary of State. 

Mr. Adams astounded the southern members, by in- 
sisting, in a formal argument, that in case of war, or insur- 
rection, the General Government had a discretionary 
power to manumit the slaves, and also by his audacity in 
asking leave to propose the following amendment to the 
Constitution, to be submitted by Congress to the several 
States, viz. : " From and after the 4th day of July, 1842, 
there shall be, throughout the United States, no hereditary 
slavery, but on and after that day every child born in the 
United States shall be/?Y^." 

A bill having been brought in, giving the light of suf- 
frage •' to all free white males," of the age of twenty- 
one years, and who had resided a certain time within the 
Hmits of Alexandria, he moved to strike out the word 
white, and supported his motion in an able and sarcastic 
speech. He asked " If this principle of universal suffrage 
was to be adopted, admitting paupers, idiots, lunatics, and 



REVIEW OF THE MEXICAN WAR. 299 

the refuse of the prisons, why a man whose skin is not 
white, but who performs all the duties of a good citizen, 
a good husband, a good father, and a kind neighbor, 
should not be entitled to vote as well as a white man ? 
I ask what is a lohite man ? Is it the color of the skin 
that constitutes a white man ? Then there are twenty 
members of this House who are not white men by that 
criterion. I pledge myself to bring forward a hundred 
respectable colored men of this city with complexions 
whiter than those of twenty members of this House. 
Would you then say, would the courts say, that this 
should be settled by going into the genealogy of the per- 
son ? In this country it is a strange idea to look into a 
man's genealogy to ascertain whether he has a right to 
vote. Tell me why you insist on giving this privilege to 
the worst of your own color, while you refuse it to the 
best of those who have a portion of the blood of anothei 
race?" 

The southern members rejected with scorn all recogni- 
tion of the Republic of Hayti, on account of the complex- 
ion of its citizens ; and Mr. Adams incurred their indigna- 
tion by zealously maintaining the duty and pohcy of 
forming diplomatic relations with it. 

In 1839, between thirty and forty Africans, recently 
imported into Havana, on their way from that port to the 
plantations of their two purchasers, took possession of the 
vessel, and arrived with their captive masters in our 
waters. The whole sympathy of the Government and 
of the slaveholders was immediately enlisted in behalf of 
the two men, who, in defiance of law and treaties, had ob- 
tained possession of these Africans, as legally entitled to 
freedom as themselves, and who had attempted to avoid 
capture by British cruizers by means of false and fraudu- 
lent Custom House passports. The case was brought 



300 REVIEW OF THE MEXICAN WAR. 

into the Supreme Court of the United States, and Mr. 
Adams volunteered his services as their counsel. He em- 
braced the opportunity of exposing the inhuman subserv- 
iency of the Government to the slaveholding interest, and 
obtained a judgment in behalf of the freedom of the un- 
fortunate Africans. 

The reader need not be reminded of the scorn and 
detestation in which abohtionists at this time were held at 
the North as well as at the South, nor how patriotic were 
all attempts then deemed to silence them by insult and 
violence. One of the most despised portions of these 
despised people, the Massachusetts Anti-Slavery Society, 
at a season of high pubUc excitement, invited Mr. Adams 
to attend one of their celebrations. He replied, " It would 
give me great pleasure to comply with the invitation," and 
after excusing himself on account of want of health and 
leisure, added, " I rejoice that the defence of human free- 
dom is falHng into younger and more vigorous hands. 
The youthful champions of the rights of human nature 
have buckled, and are buckhng on their armor, and the 
scourging ONcrseer, and the lynching lawyer, and the 
servile sophist, and the faithless scribe, and the priestly 
parasite, will vanish before them like Satan touched with 
the spear of Ithuriel. You have a glorious and arduous 
career before you ; and it is among the consolations of my 
last days, that I am able to cheer you in the pursuit, and 
exhort you to be stejifast and immoveable.*' 

But the crowning crime of the abolitionists, was their 
union with English abolitionists in anti-slavery conven- 
tions held in London. 

A northera member of Congress, sent under his frank to 
Mr. Polk, then Governor of Tennessee, certain proceed- 
ings of the " World's Convention." The Governor re- 
turned an insulting answer, concluding, " It is a matter 



REVIEW OF THE MEXICAN WAR. 301 

of sincere regret that any American citizen should be 
guilty of such high treason to the first principles upon 
which the States became united." Mr. Polk published 
his epistle, and it no doubt prepared the way for his ele- 
vation to the Presidency. In May, 1843, as a delegate 
to an Anti-Slavery Convention in London, was leaving 
Boston, hu received the following lines : 

" My dear sir — I have only time to say God bless you 
and your enterprize, for which I have no other prayer to 
make, than that its success may herald my nunc dimittis. 

" J. Q. Adams." 

When Mr. Polk declared it to be high treason for any 
American to countenance these foreign Anti-Slavery Con- 
ventions, he little anticipated, that he should hereafter 
deem it expedient, officially to pronounce the writer of 
such a note, " a great and patriotic citizen." 

We have already noticed Mr. Adams's strenuous oppo- 
sition to the annexation of Texas, and his stern denuncia- 
tion of the policy long pursued towards Mexico, and we 
have found his name associated with the little band who 
dared to vote against the Mexican war, and who, in deri- 
sive but prophetic language, were called " The immortal 
fourteen." 

But if to question the justice of the war, was giving 
"aid and comfort" to the enemy, how deep the treasou 
while the war was waging, to refuse in aiding its prosecu- 
tion ! Yet a few weeks before his death, Mr. Adams 
voted for a resolution withdrawing our troops from 
Mexico, relinquishing all claims for the expenses of the 
war, and estabhshing the desert between the Nueces and 
the Rio Grande the boundaiy between the two countries ; 
and almost the last vote he ever gave, was for an amend- 
ment to the bill raising a loan of sixteen millions, viz. : 

** Provided that no part of the money received under 
26 



302 KLVIEW OF THE ilEXICAN WAR. 

the authority of this act shall be applied to any expenses 
that shall hereafter be incurred by the prosecution of the 
war with Mexico." 

If Mr. Adams shocked the slaveholders by the freedom 
of his language, he was no less regardless of the sensi- 
bilities of their alUes. Irritated by their subserviency, 
and their constant endeavors to thwart him, he exclaimed 
on the floor, " There is no end to the devices and inge- 
nuity of the servile part of this house, for the purpose of 
suppressing the right of petition. I do not mean by the 
servile part of this house, the slaveholding part of it." 
He asserted " Northern subserviency to southern dictation 
is the price paid by a northern administration (Mr. Van 
Buren's) for southern support. The people of the north 
still support, by their suffrages, the men who have 
truckled to southern domination. I believe it impossible 
that this total subversion of every principle of hberty 
should be much longer submitted to by the people of the 
free States of this Union. If they choose to be repre- 
sented by slaves, they will find servihty enough to repre- 
sent and betray them." On another occasion, he pro- 
nounced the northern Democrats " The consistent Swiss 
guards of southern slavery." Nor was his notice of the 
northern Whigs much more flattering. They were thus 
characterized by him : '' The languid, compromising non- 
resistants of the north, afraid of answering a fool accord- 
ing to his folly, and flinching from the attitude of defiance - 
flung in their faces by the bullying threat of readiness to 
meet them ' here or elsewhere.' " 

He was as fearless in his assaults upon individuals, as 
upon classes. Congressional duelling excited his especial 
abhorrence, both for its wickedness, and because, as he 
contended, it was resorted to by southern members for 
the purpose of intimidating northern representatives. In 



REVIKW OF THE MEXICAN WAK. 303 

a debate, referring to the subject, he spoke of the death 
of a northern man who had fallen in a duel, as "a de- 
hberate murder committed on a member of this house," 
and alluded to a gentleman present who had acted as a 
second in this duel, and was supposed to have instigated 
it, as a man having come into that hou-se " with his hands 
and face dripping with the blood of murder, the blotches 
of which were yet hanging upon him." 

He as freely condemned what he thought wrong in the 
character and conduct of his country, as he did in parties 
and individuals. On the floor of Congress he declared, 
" You make and break treaties with the Indian tribes, 
whenever either to make or break treaties with them hap- 
pens to suit the purposes of the President and a majority 
of both houses of Congress." Again — " In the treatment 
of the African and native American races, we have sub- 
verted the maxims and degenerated from the virtues of 
our fathers." In a published letter, respecting a celebra- 
tion of West India emancipation, he avowed he had not 
taken part in it, " from shame for the honor and good 
name of my country, whose government has been now, for 
a series of years, pursuing and maturing a counteraction of 
the purpose of universal emancipation, and organizing an 
opposite system for the maintenance and perpetuation 
of slavery throughout the earth." After referring to va- 
rious disgraceful features in the conduct of the Govern- 
ment and people, he added, " my friends, I have no 
heart to join in the festivity on the 1st of August, the 
British anniversary of disenthralled humanity. While all 
this, and infinitely more than I could tell, but that I would 
spare the blushes of my country, weigh down my spirits 
with the uncertainty, sinking into my grave, as I ain, 
whether she is doom.ed to be numbered with the first 



304 RLVIHW OF THE MEXICAN WAR. 

liberators or the last oppressors of the race of imrnoi'tal 
man." 

It would have been an anomaly in the history of hu- 
man nature, if a public man, thus outraging almost eveiy 
popular prejudice, pouring contempt upon political mean- 
ness and corruption, spurning the commonly received 
tests of patriotism, and hurling defiance at all the dema- 
gogues of the day, had not excited against himself deep 
and -vvide-spread hostility. Truth, justice, virtue, and 
patriotism all forbid, as base and criminal, the suppression 
of the histoiical fact that, for years, John Quincy Adams 
was the most hated man in the American Repubhc. 
To the Whig party he was an encumbrance, perpetually- 
interrupting the desired harmony between its northern 
and southern sections, by introducing the topic of slavery, 
and raising questions on which " policy " required the 
party to vote against him. Scorning the control of party 
discipline and caucus dictation, he pursued his own 
course, without asking or receiving permission from the 
leaders. At the organization of the last house of Repre- 
sentatives he ever attended, he dared to vote against 
the Whig nominee for Clerk, and by so doing, nearly se- 
cured the re-election of the late faithful and efficient, but 
democratic incumbent. The Whig party of his own 
State did not deem it expedient to assume the responsi- 
bihty of his " fanaticism," by returning him to the Senate 
of the United States, as they had the power to do ; and 
the Whig presses throughout the Union, with few excep- 
tions, were nearly as strenuous in condemning his con- 
gressional conduct, as were his political opponents. 

It can readily be understood, that the slaveholders 
looked upon him as an incendiary of the most odious as 
well as dangerous description ; while the demagogues of 
every name and party were zealous in manifesting their 



REVIEW or THE MEXICAN WAR. 305 

patriotism, by pouring obloquy upon a man at once so dis- 
tinguished and so unpopular. The northern Democrats 
especially, were careful to improve the opportunity of 
testifying their devotion to the cause of human bondage, 
by the most unmeasured hostility to its mighty opponent. 
Said the Albany Argus (the recognized organ of the New 
York serviles), " How discreditable is it to the country, 
that the Massachusetts madman is permitted not only to 
outrage all order and decorum in the House, but to 
scatter incendiary evil and excitement throughout the 
country." 

The Richmond Inquirer, then edited by the same per- 
son whom Mr. Polk afterwards selected to take charge of 
the official journal of the administration, announced that 
Mr. Adams was considered " a general nuisance, whom 
the voice of the House, if not of the people, must here- 
after abate.'" The abatement intended was expulsion 
from Congress. A New York paper, alluding with appro- 
bation to this hint of expulsion, extended it to the few 
members who acted with Mr. Adams, and remarked — 
"But we are apprehensive there is not enough firmness 
or patriotism in Congress to adopt so stern and decisive a 
mode of rebuking the audacity of the miscreant traitors." 

The Charleston Mercury, the leading Journal in South 
Carolina, in reference to Mr. Adam's course in Congress, 
declared (1837): "Public opinion in the South, would, 
now we are sure justify an immediate resort to force by 
the southern delegation, and even on the floor of Congress, 
were they forthwith to seize and drag from the hall 
any man who dared to insult them as that eccentric old 
showman, John Quincy Adams, has dared to do." 

The Washington Globe, the acknowledged organ of 
the Democratic party at the seat of Government, spoke 
of Mr. Adams, as '' a vulgar old man, who has forfeited 
26* 



306 REVIEW OF TlIi; MEXICAN WAH. 

all claim, by his incorrigible malevolence, to the respect 
otherwise due tohis age and station," and declared " all 
his zeal, all his sympathies are against his country." 

At a pubhc dinner in Virginia, the company drank as a 
toast : *' John Quincy Adams— once a man, twice a child, 
and now a demon." At a fourth of July dinner in South 
Carohna, the following toast was given : *' May we never 
want a hangman to prepare a halter for John Quincy 
Adams." The company not only drank the toast, but 
accompanied it with nine cheers. In 1842, the democracy 
of Ohio, having the control of the Legislature, a\'ailed 
itself of the opportunity of making an acceptable offer- 
ing at the shrine of slavery, by declaring in the name and 
by the authority of the State in joint resolution, that, 
•* John Quincy Adams had subjected himself to the 
meiited censure and reprehension of his countrymen;" 
and " that the House of Representatives of the United 
States owed it to themselves, to stamp his course and 
conduct with the severest marks of its indignant disappro- 
bation and censure." 

But the hatred felt against Mr. Adams, was not mani- 
fested only in indecent toasts, newspaper scurrility, and 
democratic obsequiousness, to the slaveholders. Mr. 
Adams in a speech in the House (January 2ist, 1839 J, 
observed : " I have received letters from vaiious quarters 
of the country, with post-m.arks showing that they have 
been mailed at places very distant from each other, con- 
taining many of them positive threats of assassination ; 
others of them filled with friendly advice, assuring me, 
that if I continued to present petitions similar to those I 
have heretofore presented in this House, my days are 
numbered, and I never shall survive the present session." 
It was, how^ever, on the floor of Congress, that the 
malignity towards him, was excited to its greatest inten- 



UKVIKW OF THE MEXICAN WAR. 307 

sity. In a speech to his constituents (1842), alluding to 
the charge against him of using harsh language, he 
remarked : " So far as any friend or impartial person may 
have thought me blameable in that respect, I would ask 
him to consider that the adversaries with whom I have 
had to contend face to face, have pursued me with a vio- 
lence and rancor unparalleled in the history of this 
country. That twice in the space of five years, I have 
for the single offence, of persisting to assert the right of 
the people to petition, and the freedom of speech and of 
the press, been dragged before the House in which I was 
your Representative, as a culprit to be censured or 
expelled ; and when, after ten days of the most unrelent- 
ing persecution, I have been barely released from its 
fury, I have been still denounced as the cause of the 
waste of time consumed by my persecutors in their 
struggle to accomplish my ruin. On both occasions, the 
fury of the whole mass of Southern slavery was concen- 
trated over my head, for the avowed purpose of breaking 
down whatever of good name I had to leave as an inhe- 
ritance to my children ; in order that my signal ruin might 
strike terror to the heart of your every other Representa- 
tive, and leave slavery the lord of the ascendant for all 
future time throughout the North American Union." 

For the purpose of insult, a petition professing to be 
from slaves, asking for his expulsion, was sent to him by 
mail for presentation. On the 6th February, 1837, he 
informed the Speaker, that he had in his possession a pe- 
tition purporting to come from slaves, and inquired 
whether it came within the gag-rule, excluding Anti- 
slavery petitions ? Immediately, cries of " expel him," 
*' expel him," were heard throughout the hall, and Mr. 
Thompson from South Carolina, moved : " That the Hon. 
John Quincy Adams, by the attempt just made by him to 



308 REVIEW OF THE MEXICAN WAR. 

introduce a petition purporting on its face to be from 
slaves, has been guilty of a gross disrespect to the House, 
and that he be instantly brought to the bar to receive the 
severest censure of the Speaker." In his speech on the 
occasion, he observed : *' If the juries of this District 
have, as I doubt not they have, proper intelligence and 
spirit, he may yet be made amenable to another tribunal, 
and we may yet see an incendiary brouyht to condign pun- 
ishment.'' 

After three day's discussion, the attempt to degrade 
Mr. Adams for asking a question, being found impracti- 
cable, was abandoned. 

In 1842, Mr. Adams was again insulted by a petition 
from Georgia, forwarded to him through the mail, asking 
for his removal as Chairman of the Committee of For- 
eign Relations, on account of his monomania. He pre- 
sented it to the House, and Mr. Hopkins of Virginia, im- 
mediately moved its reference to the committee, with in- 
structions to choose another Chairman. Mr. Adams 
claimed to be heard in his defence, declaring that the 
feeling against him was " a slave -holding, slave-trading, and 
slave breeding feeling." He was not allowed to proceed 
in his defence, and the motion of Mr. Hopkins was 
dropped. The brief calm that ensued, was but the pre- 
cursor of a tempest ; for, three days after, Mr. Adams 
presented a petition, praying Congress to take measures 
for dissolving the Union ; and moved its reference to 
a committee, with instructions to report reasons why the 
prayer of the petition should not be granted. 

The petition itself was brief, containing no allusion to 
slavery, and was, in fact, an exact copy of one that had 
some years before, been got up by certain of the South 
Carolina nullifiers.* The true paternity of the petition 

* The reasons assigned in the petition were : ** First, because 



REVIEW OF THE MEXICAN WAR. 309 

was at the time unknown to the House, and the Southern 
members, regarding it only in the Hght of an abolition 
documept, seized the occasion, to bring disgrace upon Mr. 
Adams, under the pretext of their own extreme devotion 
to the Union. Mr. Gilmer of Virginia, and lately Gover- 
nor of the State, immediately offered a resolution declar- 
ing " that in presenting to the consideration of the House, 
a petition for the dissolution of the Union, the member 
from Massachusetts, has justly incurred the censure of 
this House." In his speech he avowed he was endeav- 
oring to stop the music of him, who, 

" In the space of one revolving moon 
Was statesman, poet, fiddler, and buflfoon." 

That evening between forty and fifty of the slaveholding 
members met in council to consider how they should 
proceed. Mr. Marshall, of Kentucky, made the meeting 
acquainted with the course he proposed taking in the 
morning, a course more decided than Mr. Gilmer's resolu- 
tion. Accordingly the next morning he introduced a sub- 
stitute for the resolution before the House, consisting of a 
long preamble, setting forth the perjury and treason to 
which Congress was invited by the Petition ; together 
with a series of resolutions, concluding with, " Resolved, 
That the aforesaid John Quincy Adams, for this insult, 
the first of the kind ever offered to the Government, and 
for the wound he has permitted to be aimed through his 
instrumentality at the Constitution and existence of his 
country, the peace, security and liberty of the people 
of these States, might well be held to merit expulsion 

no union can be agreeable or permanent, which does not present 
prospects of reciprocal benefits. Second, because a vast pro- 
portion of the resources of one section of the Union, is annually 
drained to sustain the views and course of another section. 
Third, because, judging from the history of past nations, that 
union, if persisted in, in the present course of things, will cer- 
tainly overwhelm the whole nation in utter destruction." 



310 REVIFAV OF THE MEXICAN WAR. 

from the National Councils, and the House deem it an act 
of grace and mercy when they only inflict upon him their 
severest censures for conduct so utterly unworthy of his 
own past relations to the State, and his present position : 
This they hereby do, for the maintenance of their own 
purity and dignity ; for the rest, they turn him over to 
his own conscience, and the indignation of all true Amen- 
can citizens'' On the reading of the resolutions, there was 
a burst of applause from the Galleries and the House, so 
much so, that the Speaker interfered to repress it. 

The malignity of this assault upon Mr. Adams was 
equalled only by its absurdity and its impudence. In pre- 
senting the petition he had expressly declared his disap- 
probation of its object. Congress being authorized by the 
Constitution to propose unlimited alterations in that instru- 
ment, every citizen has a constitutional right to ask them 
to propose any alteration he desires, although it may vir- 
tually dissolve the Confederacy ; and it is, moreover, pre- 
posterous to maintain that a union formed by consent of 
the partners, cannot by the same consent be severed. It 
must also be recollected that the assault proceeded from 
a sectional party, that for a long series of years, has been 
threatening to dissolve the Union, if not permitted to 
govern it. Instead of instantly spuming this ridiculous 
and wicked persecution, the House, by a formal vote of 
118 to 75,* resolved to consider the charges against Mr. 
Adams. He was thereupon put on trial, and Mr. Mar- 
shall and Mr. Wise of Virginia, acted as the leading 
Counsel of the prosecution. The latter acquitted the ac- 
cused of insanity, and avowed his conviction that ** he was 
more wicked than weak ;" but at the same time pro- 
nounced him " politically dead — dead as Burr — dead as 
Arnold. The people would look upon him with wondo*, 

* Only t-wo northern Democi'atg voted in the negatire ! 



REVIEW OF THE MEXICAN WAR. 311 

would shudder and retire." The dead culprit, however, 
evinced most astonishing vitahty. The accused became 
the accuser ; his very persecution was proof of a conspi- 
racy against the hberties of the North ; and, abandoning 
the defence of himself, he arraigned the slave-holdei:s at 
the bar of the nation for endeavoring to destroy the right 
of Habeas Corpus, the right of trial by jury, the freedom 
of the Post Office, the hberty of speech, of the press, and 
of petition, and in short, to destroy all the constitutional 
rights of the North adverse to human bondage — and that 
for the purpose of effecting these outrages, they had 
formed a coalition with the northern Democrats — ^that 
if the rights of the North could not be otherwise pro- 
tected, the petitioners had acted properly, in asking for a 
dissolution of the Union. 

The pubhc watched with intense interest the progress 
of this momentous trial, and it was quickly perceived on 
which side victory was inclining. Mr. Gilmer, anxious to 
arrest a process from which the slave interest was suffer- 
ing so severely, proposed a compromise — a nolle prosequi 
should be entered, provided the defendant would with- 
draw the petition he had presented. The proposition met 
with a positive and indignant refusal. Mr. Adams de- 
clared he would not, by withdrawing the petition, sanction 
the suppression of the right of petition, which was the 
real object of the prosecution ; he had done only his duty, 
he defied the House, and spurned its proffered mercy. 
The trial continued to the Tth day, when, on motion of a 
southern member, all proceedings were discontinued."^ 

* Twenty -five of the southern members, and all the northern 
"Whigs united in this vote; but the whole delegation of the 
northern democracy, with the exception of six, refused to un- 
bind the victim whom they were anxious to offer a sacrifice on 
the altar of slavery, as an earnest and proof of their own fealty. 
Messrs. Thompson, Wise, and Gilmer, who had distinguished 
thom3elvc6 by heaping obloquy upon Mr. Adams, w«re honored 



312 REVIEW OF the' MEXICAN WAR. 

The next day a new insult was offered to Mr. Adams 
All the southern members of the Committee of Foreign 
Relations, four in number, including Messrs. Gilmer and 
Hunter, of Virginia, and one northern " servile," resigned 
their «eats, avowing that they could not condescend any 
longer to be associated with their Chairman. The Speaker 
appointed five southern gentlemen to fill the vacancies, 
and, of these, three, including Mr. Holmes, of South Caro- 
lina, refused the appointment— Mr. Holmes expressly de- 
claring, in a letter to the Speaker, his repugnance to serve 
with Mr. Adams. Thus no less than eight members of 
the House professed to think it derogatory to their dignity 
to sit in the same Committee with John Quincy Adams. 
The object was to compel him to resign, or the House to 
remove him. 

But this was the last spasm of impotent malice. From 
the commencement of his trial his reputation rose in public 
estimation, and it continued to rise, till at the time of his 
death, it had reached an elevation never surpassed by that 
of any man on the American Continent, with the single 
exception of Washington. The astonishing popularity 
of this lately defamed and persecuted man, is evinced by 
the strange and extraordinary praises it extorted from 
politicians of every description. On the announcement 
of his death, prominent men on the floor of Congress 
seized the occasion to make speeches in his honor. Among 
the eulogists were numbered no less than three gentlemen 
from the South. The speeches were, hf order of the 
House, published in a pamphlet, and of this 20,000 copies, 
adorned with a portrait of the deceased, and a copy of his 
autograph, were distributed at public expense. 

A panegyiic on Napoleon, from which all allusion to 

with important appointments, by and with the advice and con- 
sent of a Whig Senate, the two former to foreign missions, and 
the latter to tho post of Secretary of the Navy 



REVIEW OF THE MEXICAN WAR. 313 

his military achievements should be excluded, would be 
regarded as a unique performance, yet it would find its 
counterpart in these Congressional oraisons funebres. In 
these the reader is told, in general terms, of the talents, 
virtue, and patriotism of the deceased ; but not a hint is 
given of that course of conduct which in fact secured for 
him these very eulogies. This Congressional monument 
raised to the honor of Adams, gives no intimation that he 
was the champion of constitutional liberty, the restorer of 
the right of petition, the indomitable foe of human bond- 
age. No allusion is made to his terrible conflicts and his 
glorious triumphs. Not a word discloses, that a slave 
ever breathed on the soil of America ; that a slaveholding 
Republic had been added to the *' area of freedom," or 
that a vv'ar was then raging, which Adams had denounced 
as waged for the extension of slavery, and from which he 
had voted to withhold supphes. Some of the speakei-s 
were minutely accurate in specifying the dates of Mr. 
Adams's appointments in former times, but all were mar- 
vellously oblivious of his recent services. One gentleman, 
preferring fiction to truth, favoi'ed the House with a beau- 
tiful and touching romance. Said Mr. McDowell, of Vir- 
ginia — " No human being ever entered this Hall, without 
turning habitually and with heartfelt deference first to Am, 
and few ever left it, without pausing as they went, to pour 
out blessings upon that spirit of consecration to the coun- 
try, which brought and kept him there." Had Messrs. 
Gilmer, Hopkins, Hunter, and Wise been in their seats, 
they might possibly have dissented from the accuracy of 
the picture drawn by their colleague, and disclaimed for 
themselves the feelings and the acts so eloquently ascribed 
to all. But judging from the Lethean spirit in which the 
faculties of the speakers were apparently drowned, it is 
more probable, that these gentlemen, far from contradict- 
27 



314 REVjr.w OF THi: mf.xican war. 

ing Mr. McDowell, would have testified to the truth of his 
statement. Mr. Holmes, of South Carolina, was another 
of the eulogists. He lamented that death had taken from 
among them " the gravest, wisest, most revered head" — 
one "adorned with virtue, learning, and truth;" and he 
called him " the Patriot Father, and the Patriot Sage." 
It did not, perhaps, occur to this gentleman, that as a few 
years before he disdainfully refused to be associated with 
this " Patriot Father, and Patriot Sage," in the Commit- 
tee of Foreign Relations, it might be interesting to the 
public to know, how recently, and by what means he had 
discovered, that his was " the gravest, Avisest, and most 
revered head" in Congress. This same gentleman (Mr. 
Isaac E. Holmes), as representing the veneration felt by 
South Carolina for the great champion of human rights, 
and her grief for his death, followed his remains from the 
city of Washington to their final resting-place in '^lassa- 
chuselts ! Having eulogized the great Abolitionist, and 
paid the last honor to his memory, Mr. Holmes returned 
to Congress where, while laboring to extend slavery to 
the Pacific, he pronounced the emphatic words, " I hold 
it (slavery) to be the greatest blessing that God ever 
conferred upon man.'' 

To no member of Congress did the charge of giving 
"aid and comfort" to the enemy apply with more force 
than to Mr. Adams ; yet Mr. Polk, in an official order, de- 
clared him to be " a great and patriotic citizen ;" and the 
official journal, robed in mourning, eulogized, as the " illus- 
trious and venerable patriot and statesman," the very man 
who the editor had formerly affirmed was considered '* a 
general nuisance." 

Of course the whole press, of all parties and shades of 
party, was vocal in praise of the departed patriot ; and one 
of the most proflio'ate of the fraternitv, who had ever 



REVIEW OF THE MEXICAN WAR. 315 

thrown contempt upon all the objects most dear to his 
heart, thought it expedient to hold the following language : 
** Mr. Adams on all occasions we beheve, has been open, 
pure, and uncontaminated, as single-hearted as a child, or 
an angel." 

American citizens in Great Britain, were pubhcly in- 
vited by the American Minister, lately engaged in con- 
ducting the Mexican war as one of Mr. Polk's cabinet, to 
pay honors to the memory of John Quincy Adams : "A 
patriot, always loving his country above all lands of the 
earth," and this notwithstanding he was " a Mexican 
Whig." Pubhc honors were paid to him even by the 
army in Mexico, although, if the assertions of some of its 
officers were true, he was a " knave" and a " traitor at 
heart." 

A committee from the House of Representatives, of one 
from each State, attended the corpse from the capitol in 
Washington to the tomb in Quincy. The funeral cortege 
in its progress, was everywhere met by large concourses 
of citizens, municipal officers, and detachments of militia. 
The whole American people, as with one voice, acknow- 
ledged and deplored the departure of a great and virtuous 
patriot. 

When it is recollected that Mr. Adams had changed no 
one of the many opinions that had exposed him to odium, 
that in no degree had he departed from that straight-for- 
ward course, which had so frequently brought him into 
violent collision with the Democrats of the North and the 
slaveholders of the South — and that in his last days he had 
outraged popular patriotism by opposing an existing war, 
and attempting to cut off supplies from our victorious 
armies — surely the revulsion of public opinion in his favor 
is marvellous and unparalleled. 

Whence came it that the same unchanged, inflexible, and 



316 REVIJ.:W OF THK 'MEXICAN WAR. 

dauntless man, scorning and defying public opinion, and 
scorning and defying it to his last breath — and who but 
lately was the object of such general hatred, that the 
representatives of the people spent a week in laboring to 
consign him "to the indignation of all true American 
citizens" — acquired such wonderful popularity, that rival 
politicians hurried to strew flowers upon his grave, and to 
let all the world know how very much they loved and 
admired him. The cause is to be found, first, in the entire 
confidence of the People in his integrity, and their admi- 
ration of his talents and moral courage ; and secondly, in 
the deference paid by poHticians to public opinion " right 
or wrong." 

The magnificent spectacle he exhibited when alone, un- 
aided, and with but little sympathy he received and 
gloriously repelled the combined assault of the Northern 
Democracy and the slave interest, won for him the hearts 
of the common people.* They looked upon him as a 
moral phenomenon — a public man who never flattered 
but often censured them — a politician who consulted duty 
and not " policy" — who feared God and not man — who 
talked as he voted, and voted as he talked — who went 
with his country and party when right, and against them 
when wrong — who was bold enough to be honest, and 
honest enough to be bold. ThisfeeUng in the community 
soon displayed itself. The year after his trial, he ti-avelled 
from Boston to Cincinnati, and his journey was a trium- 
phal progress. Even in the slave states, the tide liad 
turned, and being expected at Wheeling, a crowd assem- 

* The following extract from a Pittsburgh paper of 1843, 
aflFords a striking illustration of this remark : " As a token of 
respect for Mr. Adams, all the works in the city were closed 
yesterday, that the working men might have a chance to bid liim 
welcome. The silence of the engines, the machinery, and the 
workman's tools was a mightier tribute to Mr. Adams, than the 
roar of cannon, the strains of music, or the eloquent address." 



REVIEW OF THE MEXICAN WAR. 317 

bled, not to insult, but to do him honor. The brave, 
frank, honest opponent was regarded with a respect never 
felt by the slaveholder for the fawning mercenary of the 
North. Mr. Adams had become the man of the people, 
and was revered and beloved by them as their champion, 
the advocate of their rights. His gi-eat and acknowledged 
popularity, at length secured for him respectful treatment 
on the floor of Congress ; and when the whole nation de- 
plored his death, pohticians of every name, and from 
every section of the country, deemed it advisable to unite 
in building his tomb. 

The facts which have now been stated respecting Mr. 
Adams, however interesting in themselves, would have 
found no place in these pages, did they not illustrate some 
great truths, having a direct and important bearing on 
many of the sentiments advanced in the present Avork. 
They reiterate the lesson long since taught, of the utter 
worthlessness of public opinion as a standard of right and 
wrong. The demoniac cries, " Crucify him, crucify him !" 
were preceded by *' Hosannas to the Son of David ;" and 
the revulsion of feeling wx have been considering shows 
that human nature is the same now as in the first centurj^ 
Multitudes who, in 1848, did reverence to the '-'Patriot 
Father and the Patriot Sage," would have rejoiced ten 
years before to have caught him in the slave region. 

We are taught in a most impressive manner, how ex- 
ceedingly destitute are many of our pubhc men of inde- 
pendent feelings and opinions. Whether Adams was a 
** miscreant traitor, ^^ or " a great and patriotic citizen^^^ was 
a question to be determined, not by bringing his conduct 
to the test of any moral standard, but by the present 
feelings of the multitude. When he was supposed to be 
unpopular, no vituperation was too coarse — when known 
27* 



318 REVIEW OF THE MEXICAN WAR. 

to be very popular, no praise was too gross, although 
ridiculously false. 

The American people have by acclamation adjudged 
John Quincy Adams a Patriot, a judgment from which 
not one politician of any name has dared to appeal. This 
judgment sets aside, condemns, and repudiates almost 
every test of patriotism prescribed by the demagogues of 
the day. It has now been decided by a tribunal which 
these men admit to be infallible, that a man may be a pat- 
riot, nay, an " illustrious patriot" according to the official 
gazette, who openly repudiates the sentiment, " our coun- 
try, right or wrong"* — who on a question of international 
law, sides with a foreign government against his own — who 
gives " aid and comfort" to the enemy by denouncing as 
unjust the war waged against him, and by striving to with- 
hold supplies from the army sent to fight him — who 
mourns over the degeneracy of his country and doubts 
whether she is to be numbered " among the first Hberators, 
or the last oppressors of the race of immortal man" — who, 
notwithstanding all " the compromises of the Constitution," 
denounces human bondage as a crime against God, and 
proposes so to change the Constitution as to effect the im- 
mediate abolition of hereditary slavery throughout the 
American Confederacy, and pouring contempt upon the 
lying Democracy of the day, claims for the black man 
the same rights of suffrage that are accorded to his white 
fellow- citizen. 

Such is the character of a patriot, as established by 
the latest decision of the American public ; a decision in 
which every member of the vast tribunal, from Mr. Polk 

* In some verses Tvritten by Mr. Adams, shortly before his 
death, and entitled " Congress, slavery, and an unjust war," are 
these lines — 

" And say not thou, ' My country, right or wrong,' 
Nor shed thv blood for an unhallowed cause." 



REVIEW OF THE MEXICAN WAR. 319 

down to the humblest caterer for war and glory, has con- 
curred. It is, indeed, a decision which in its application to 
others, will be over-ruled, whenever " policy " or passion 
may require its abrogation ; but it is nevertheless of vast 
importance. It has reversed many con-upt judgments 
previously given ; it will cheer and encourage many weak- 
hearted patriots, and it may hint to some politicians, that 
it is possible to acquire popularity by adhering to duty, 
as well as by listening to the suggestions of " policy." 

We have seen Mr. Adams, although constantly occu- 
pied in public life, bursting at pleasure the bonds of 
party, outraging public opinion, and apparently courting 
defeat and odium — 

" Among innumerable false, unmoved — 
Unshaken, iinseduced, unterrified, 
His loyalty he kept, his love, his zeal — 
Nor number, nor example -with him wrought 
To swerve from truth, or change his constant mind." 

Surely there must have been some potent principle of 
action which impelled him to pursue a path so diverg- 
ent from those ^ usually selected by political aspirants, 
one to all appearance leading him far from popular ap- 
plause, and yet in the end conducting him to the very 
pinnacle of fame. There was such a principle, and it 
is shadowed forth in the moral with which Mr. M'Dowell 
" adorned his tale," " His life," said the Virginia eulo- 
gist, " has been a continuous and beautiful illustration of 
the great truth, that while the fear of man is the con- 
summation of all folly, the fear of God is the beginning 
of wisdom." Unhappy is it for our country, that the re- 
verse of this truth forms the maxim, by which so many 
of our public men apparently govern their conduct. But 
what was the secret of the great strength of this moral 



320 KEVIKW OF THi: MLXICAN WAR. 

Sampson ? Since bis death, certain letters to his son 
have been given to the press, and in these we find an 
answer to the inquiry. It appears, that while at the 
court of St. Petersburg, in 1811, he commenced a series 
of letters to his absent child, on the study of the Bible — 
*' the Divine revelation," as he called it. In these he 
remarks, " I have myself, for many years, made it a prac- 
tice to read through the Bible once every year. I have 
always endeavored to read it with the same spiiit and 
temper of mind which I now recommend to you ; that is, 
with the intention and desire that it may contribute to 
ray advancement in wisdom and virtue. My custom is, to 
read four or five chapters eveiy morning, immediately 
after lising from my bed. It employs about half an hour 
of my time, and seems to me the most suitable manner of 
beginning the day." The following advice to his son 
seems both indicative of his own future course, and pro- 
phetic of its glorious termination : — " Never give way to 
the pushes of impudence, wrong-headiness, or intracta- 
bihty, which would lead or draiv you aside from the dic- 
tates of your own conscience and }'our own sense of right. 
Till you die, let' not your integrity depart from you. 
Build your house upon the rock, and then let the rains 
descend, and the flood come, and the winds blow, and 
beat upon that house, it shall not fall. So promises your 
blessed Lord and Master." In a most wonderful manner 
was this promise fulfilled '^i his own case, even in the 
present world. But there is a day approaching, when 
the secrets of all hearts shall be laid open, and when every 
man shall come to judgment. Then will those who have 
in this life pursued expediency in preference to duty, 
learn, when too late, that " the wisdom of this world is 
foolishness with God." 



REVIEW OF THE MEXICAN WAR. 321 



CHAPTER XXXV II. 

WAR, AND THE MEANS OF PREVENTION. 

We have endeavored to give the reader some idea of the 
vast amount of crime and misery resulting from our hos- 
tilities with Mexico ; yet those hostilities present but a 
faint image of war. All the American troops sent into 
Mexico, will not number as many as have often been killed 
and wounded in a single engagement. Had all the bat- 
tles of the late war occurred at the same time, and on the 
same field, they would scarcely have equalled a skirmish 
between the outposts of two European armies. The total 
number of our troops officially reported to have been killed 
in battle, is less than two thousand ! If we would know the 
horrors of war, not as waged in ancient times, when whole 
nations contended in arms, with heathen barbarity, but as 
waged within our own recollection, and by enlightened, 
civilized, and christian people, let us contemplate the de- 
tails of only three of a multitude of modern battles.* 

Jexa— engaged, 200,000 men ; killed and Avounded, 34,000 
Eylau '• 160,000 '• '' 50,000 

Borodino " 265,000; 1,280 cannon in the field, 

25,000 killed, 08,000 wounded— 93,000 

Napoleon invaded Russia with 450,000 troops, of which 
number about 400,000 are supposed to have perished, 
only about 50,000 having returned to their native land. 
We shudder to reflect on the awful accumulated misery 
and Clime necessarily resulting from such vast slaughter. 

* f^ee Aliflou. 



322 REVIEW OF 'J'HE MEXICAN WAR. 

Let it be also recollected that the horrors of the battle 
'field, form but one item, and that comparatively a small 
one, in the long catalogue of woes, inflicted by war upon 
the human race. The limits of the present chapter for- 
bid us to dwell on the anguish experienced by the friends 
and relatives of the killed and wounded — on the vast 
amount extorted from the avails of labor to defray the 
expense of war — on the ruin and desolation which mark 
the track of hostile armies, and the depravation of morals 
engendered by the license and temptations connected with 
the military profession. Nor have we space to exhibit 
the innefficiency and uncertainty of war, as a means of 
defence against injury, or as an instrument for enforcing 
justice. But we ask the attention of the reader to a topic 
seldom investigated, and yet possessing momentous inte- 
rest — the folly and the cost of Jiiilitary 2^rcparation. 

Of all the false and hoary maxims by which mankind 
have been deluded, perhaps none has ever exerted such 
baneful influence on human happiness as that scrap of 
counterfeit wisdom, " I:> teace, prepare for war." 
The proposed object of the counsel, is io 2yreserve peace by 
being prepared to repel, and thereby to prevent aggres- 
sion. The reasoning is contradicted by the testimony of 
history and by the character of human nature. No na- 
tion was ever better prepared for war than France under 
jXapoleon, and no nation was ever more fiercdy and vio- 
lently attacked ; and seldom has any nation been more 
humbled, compelled not only to receive a sovereign from 
the hands of her enemies, but to pay the expenses of a 
foreign army to whose custody she was consigned. Great 
mihtary strength has no tendency to foster pacific dispo- 
sitions in its possessor. While the character of man re- 
mains unchanged, his cupidity, oppression, and injustice 
will ordinarily be proportioned to his means of indulging 



REVIEW OF THE MEXICAN WAR. 323 

them. Hence, in all ages those nations which have been 
the best prepared for war, have drank most deeply of its 
bloody cup. If we examine the history of Europe from 
1700, to the general peace in 1815, we shall find that 
during the 115 years, 

Great Britain was engaged in war . . 69 years. 

Russia, 68 

France, ..... 63 

Holland, . .~" . ... 43 

Portugal, 40 

Denmark, 28 

Pride, arrogance, and the lust of conquest, are the 
natural and bitter fruits of military preparation — fruits 
fatal to national peace and happiness. 

Strange as may seem the assertion, it is, we believe, 
nevertheless true, that both Europe and America have 
expended more money in preparing for war, than in actual 
hostilities. 

In the old world, every important city was anciently 
walled and fortified, and even in our own days, we 
have seen the French people already burthened with 
debt, lavishing millions in erecting a wall thirty miles in 
circumference around their Capital.* 

When we examine the expenditures made in time of 
peace for mihtary preparation, we are astounded by the 
stupendous results, and can scarcely credit the testimony 
of official staterhents. 



* This work of prodigal folly has been falsely ascribed to the 
late King ; it was demanded by the liberal or popular party, 
under the leadership of Mr. Thiers. The Republic, instead of 
lessening the burdens of the people, have actually, although un- 
menaced by a single State in Europe, increased their military 
preparations. On the 1st December, 1848, the effective force of 
the French army amounted to 502,196 men, and 100,432 horses ; 
and to this was added a large navy, with between twenty and 
thirty thousand seamen. 



324 REVIEW OF THE MEXICAN WAR. 

The following facts are gleaned from a late English 
statistical work : * 

For the six years ending with 1886, the average 
expenditures of the British Government, exclu- 
sive of payments for interest on the national 
debt, was £17,101,508 

Of this sum, there was paid on an average, for the 

army, navy, and ordinance,! .... 12,714,289 

Leaving an average annual amount expenditure 

for civil purposes, of only 4,387,219 

It thus appears that the annual payments for military 
preparations during this period, were no less than seveniy- 
four per cent, of the current expenses of the Government, 
exclusive of £28,5*74,829, the yearly interest on the war 
debt ! ! 

The Budget, for 1848, contained the following esti- 
mates, viz : 

Army, .... £7,540,405 

Navy, 8,018,873 

Ordinance, . . . 2,947,869 



Total, . . . £18,507,147 

One would have thought that this enormous sum was 
quite enough to extort from the people of England in a 
single year for preparation for future and unseen hostili- 
ties. But no. The Duke of Wellington, in his specula- 
tions on steam na\igation, suddenly conceit ed the idea, 
that a French army might, in an unexpected moment, be 
landed upon the British shores from a fleet of steamboats. 
A panic seized the venerable chief, and he trembled for 

* Porter's Progress of the Nation, Vol. ii. 

t The average for these six years, from some cause, was unusu- 
ally small The total outlay on army, navy, and ordinance, 
since the peace of 1815, to the year ending 5th January, 1848, 
is £484,231,985, being an annual average of £15,444,749. The 
actual payments for military preparatioai, during the year 1847, 
amounted to £18,503,146 ! See tract published by the " Edin- 
burg Finaricitil Reform Association.'' 



REVIEW OF THE MEXICAN WAR. 325 

the permanency of the Empire. The coasts of England 
ought immediately to be fortified, and a large home army 
ought to be forthwith organizcvd and maintained, to fight 
the French whenever and wherever they might land from 
their steamers. The construction of the forts would of 
coarse furnish fat jobs for innumerable contractors, and the 
home army would supply younger sons with. commissions, 
rank, and emolument. No wonder that multitudes of 
patriotic Englishmen were found to favor the insane pro- 
ject. The ministers, it is boheved, were deterred from 
recommending the Duke's plan to Parharaent, only by the 
sturdy opposition of the friends of peace. 

A few years since, it was computed that the cost of the 
military peace establishments of the following Powers, was 
in the ratio named to the whole expenditure of the seve- 
ral Governments, exclusive of payments on account of 
debt, viz. : 

Austria, as 33 per cent. 

France, ,, 38 per cent. 

Prussia, ,, 44 per cent. 

Great Britain, ,, 74 per cent. 
We are fond of comparing our own republican frugality 
with monarchical prodigality. National vanity, like 
charity, covers not only a multitude of sins, but also a 
multitude of follies. The average expenditure of the 
Federal Government, for the six years, ending with 1840, 
/ exclusive of payments on account of debt, was ^26,4*74,892. 
During the same years, the average payments for 
military and naval purposes, were $21,328,903. Being 
EIGHTY PER CENT, of the wholc amount ! A greater 
ratio than is expended by any monarchy in Europe, in 
preparing for war.* 

* It is true, that during a portion of these six years, we were 
fighting a few Seminole Indians in Florida. If, then, we take the 
six years, ending with 1836, a time of profound peace, the ratio 



326 REVIKW OF THE MKXJCAN WAR. 

It is with difficulty we can give our assent to the accu- 
racy of such amazing disclosures ; and yet our scepticism 
will vanish when we consider that fortifications, barracks, 
store-houses, arms, ammunition, and ships of w^ar are all 
mostly constructed in time of peace. But this is not all. 
Men are also to be trained and instructed in the art of 
human slaughter, and kept ready to put in practice at a 
moment's warning, the lessons they have received. 

In 1828, a time of general peace, the standing armies 
of Europe w^ere estimated at 2,265,500 men.* If to the 
pay of these men, we add the cost of their food, clothes, 
lodging, and of the arms, ammunition, barracks, &c., with 
which they were furnished, and the value of their labor 
■which is lost to the community, we shall not exaggerate 
their expense to the State when w^e estimate it at 8500 a 
man, making the sum total of $1,1 3 2, '750,000, an amount 
the mind cannot realize. But before we give vent to our 
indignation against Kings and Emperors for thus Squan- 
dering the earnings of their subjects, let us once more 
look at home. Our young Republic, from the moment of 
her birth, has scarcely had a hostile neighbor. For about 
two years, Canada on the north, and for the same time, 
Mexico on the south, have been in a belhgerent position 
tow^ards us. Bounded for the most part by the ocean, 
and by interminable forests, Ave have had httle to fear 
from invasion ; and never, except in the war of 1812, 
has a hostile foot, other than that of a savage, pressed 
our soil. Yet with all our professions of economy, we 
have pursued the system of military preparation, after a 
royal fashion. Since the commencement of the Federal 
Government to the beginning of 1848, independent of 

is seventy-seven per cent., still greater than that of Great Britain. 
See American Almanac for 1845, page 143. 
* Balance Politiqus du Globe, by M. Adrien Balbi. 



KKYIKW OF THE MEXICAN WAR. 327 

the prodigious cost of arming and training the raihtia, 
there have been paid from the national treasury — 

For the Army and Fortifications, - - *366,713,209 
For the Navy, and its operations, - - 209,994,428 



$;576,707,637 

Here we have half a billion of dollars taken from the 
people, with their own consent, for the pm-pose of being 
ready for war ! To this immense sum may be added 
$61,109,834, expended in military pensions. 

Were the money lavished in military preparation 
annihilated, all the mines in the world could not sup- 
ply the requisite treasure. It is not annihilated, but 
it is wasted — that is, it is given for what yields no return 
of comfort and happiness to the nation at large. Let us 
suppose that the two millions of soldiers maintained in 
Europe, in 1828, had been employed at ordinary wages 
in building pyramids. Surely, none would deny that 
the money expended in raising structures so utterly 
worthless, was profligately wasted ; and none will question • 
that the people would have had good cause to rise in re- 
bellion against rulers who robbed them of the fruits of 
their labor, for purposes so vain and ridiculous. Yet the 
treasures lavished on such piles, would have been far 
less in amount, and expended in a manner far less in- 
jurious to the public morals and happiness, than the 
money squandered on the armies. 

M. Bouvet, in a recent speech in the French Assembly, 
remarking on the appropriation of 583 milHons for the 
army and navy, about one-third of the whole estimate, 
well observed : "I cannot convey to you my sense of the 
irrational distribution of our resources, when I observe 
how comparatively unimportant we deem the elements of 
intelligence and public prosperity which is indicated by 



328 REVIEW OF THE flEXICAN WAR. 

our budgets of instruction, commerce, and agriculture, 
amounting altogether to hardly tliirty-six millions I What 
should you think of the father of a family, who possessing 
an income of 15,000 francs, should expend 5,000 in araas 
and horses, while he only appropriated 360 francs to the 
instruction of his children and the improvement of his 
estate ? War, founded on force and restraint, is contrary 
to liberty. War, enabling the strong to triumph over the 
weak, is contrary to eqnaliffj. War, shattering the law of 
love, which unites individuals and communities, is con- 
trary to fraternity. Thus the Republic, to be consistent 
with its own constitution, ought henceforth to endeavor to 
suppress the military system, and to substitute for it an 
international jurisdiction. Such an object is so honest, so 
generous, so important to the public welfare, that France 
need not blush to make it the principal aim of its political 
existence." 

The desire expressed by M. Bouvet, that international 
jurisdiction may be substituted for the miUtary system, 
will find a cordial response in the breast of every true 
patriot, of every faithful disciple of the Prince of Peace. 
But what would be a practicable and safe and proper inter- 
national jurisdiction? A "congress of nations," con- 
sisting of deputies from various States, and forming a 
court for the settlement of controversies arising between 
their several governments, has been proposed. However 
excellent such a tribunal may be in theory, and however , 
useful it may hereafter be in practice, it cannot be dis- 
guised, that formidable difficulties oppose its speedy 
organization. Pacific sentiments must extensively prevail, 
before governments will be disposed to enter into such an 
arrangement ; and the erection of such a tribunal must 
necessarily be preceded by tedious negotiations respect- 



REVIEW OF THE MEXICAN WAR. 329 

ing the relative representation in the Congress, and the 
powers with which it should be entrusted. In the mean 
time, the military system would be continued, and its 
very continuance would render more difiFiCult and distant 
the establishment of the Congress. 

Happily there is a mode of " international jurisdiction," 
more simple, speedy, and practicable, and of which any 
two nations may at any time avail themselves, without 
Avaiting for the co-operation of others. This mode is 
faintly shadowed forth in our late treaty with Mexico, but 
in terms — 

" Which keep the word of promise to the ear, 
And break it to the hope." 

The 21st Article is as follows : " If unhappily any dis- 
agreement should hereafter arise between the Govern- 
ments of the two Republics, whetlier with respect to the 
interpretation of any stipulation in this treaty, or with 
respect to any other particular concerning the political or 
commercial relations of the two nations, the said Govern- 
ments, in the name of those nations, do 'promise to each 
other, that they will endeavor in the most sincere and 
earnest manner, to settle the differences so arising, and to 
preserve the state of peace and friendship, in which the 
two countries are now placing themselves, using for this 
end mutual representations and pacific negotiations ; and 
if by these means they should not be enabled to come to 
an agreement, a resort shall not on this account be h.ad to 
reprisals, aggressions, or hostilities of any kind, by the 
one Republic against the other, until the Government of 
that which deems itself aggrieved, shall have maturely 
considered, in the spiiit of peace and good neighborship, 
whether it would not be better that such difference should 
be settled by the arbitration of commissioners appointed 
on each side, or by that of a friendly nation ; and should 
28* 



3dO REVIEW OF THE MEXICAN WAR. 

such course be proposed by either party, it shall be 
acceded to by the other, tinless deemed by it altogether 
incompatible with the nature of the difference, or the cir- 
cumstances of the case." 

This stipulation, it is obvious, amounts to nothing more 
than an acknowledgment that there is an equitable mode 
of preventing future hostilities, and a promise to adopt it, 
unless either party shall think it more advantageous to 
trust to the arbitrament of the sword. 

Had the reference to arbitration been made imperative 
instead of discretionary, the treaty of peace would have 
done much to atone for the iniquity of the war. It would 
have secured Mexico from future spoliation, and by guar- 
anteeing our own rights, would have removed all pretext 
for mihtary preparation on our Mexican frontier ; and it 
would, moreover, have set a glorious example of a victori- 
ous people debarring themselves from future conquests, 
and have taught the world how its swords might be 
beaten into ploughshares, and its spears into pruning- 
hooks. 

Let us suppose that instead of this quibbling, shuffling, 
non-committal Article, the following had been substituted 
for it. 

" It is agreed between the contracting parties, that, if 
unhappily any controversy shall arise between them, in 
respect to the true intent of any stipulation in this treaty, 
or in respect to any other matter, which controversy can- 
not be satisfactorily adjusted by negotiation, neither party 
shall resort to hostilities against the other, but the matter 
in dispute shall, by a special convention, be submitted to 
the arbitrament of some friendly power ; and the parties 
do hereby agree to abide by the award which may be 
given in pursuance of such submission." 

To such an Article, what valid objection can be offered ? 



REVIEW OF THE MEXICAN WAR. 331 

The reference would be made onl}' after negotiation had 
failed, of course it would be the alternative of war. 
Now whatever might be the award, each party would be 
the gainer, for each would be saved the expenditure of 
blood and treasure. The successful party would establish 
his claims without cost ; and to the losing party, the 
remark of Frankhn would be strictly applicable : " What- 
ever advantage one nation would obtain of another, it 
would be cheaper to purchase such advantage with ready 
money, than to pay the expense of acquiring it by war." 

But it may be doubted by some, whether the award 
would be in accordance with justice. Why such a doubt ? 
Would an impartial disinterested umpire, selected or agreed 
to by ourselves, and with the gaze of the world fixed upon 
him, be less able, or less inclined, to understand and deter- 
mine the merits of the question submitted to him, than 
the Government of Mexico, or of our own country smarting 
under the irritation of real or imaginary wrong, seeking 
popularity by a show of patriotism and sensibiHty to 
national honor, and goaded on by politicians seeking for 
office, and by needy adventurers eager for the commis- 
sions, contracts, and spoils of war ? The people at large 
have no interest in war ; on the contrary, it is upon them 
its burdens press and its calamities fall. 

We have seen how crushing is the weight of war-taxes 
upon the mviltitude ; and yet they seem, for the most part, 
utterly ignorant of the true cause of their poverty and 
wretchedness. Deluded by demagogues, they ascribe 
their sufferings to kings, and nobles, and priests, but 
render a willing homage to soldiers, who are in fact 
their real oppressors. The French people restless under 
the burthen of taxation, drove their monarch into exile, 
and seizing in their own hands the reins of Government, 
immediately enlarged their army, and have thus swelled 



332 REVIEW OF THE MEXICAN WAR. 

their taxes beyond what they were under the monarchy. 
The suffering masses of England cry aloud against the 
political institutions of their country, and seek relief in 
annual parliaments, vote by ballot, 6lc., apparently uncon- 
scious that they are pressed to the earth by war and mili- 
tary j^repara^/ow. Let them rid themselves of these 
plagues, and their taxes for the support of the Govern- 
ment, including all the appropriations for the maintenance 
of royalty in all its splendor, would be so trivial as to be 
scarcely perceptible. Does this statement excite the smile 
of increduhty "? We appeal to facts. 

The average expenditure of the British Govern- 
ment for the six years ending with 1836, in- 
cluding interest on the National-Debt, was £45,676,357 

Now of this immense sum, there was paid for 

the civil expenses of the Government, only 4,387,214 



Leaving, for military preparation and interest 

on the war-debt £41,289,143 

Here we have disclosed the secret agent of those 
mighty upheavings which are causing the pohtical world 
to reel to and fro hke a drunken man. Men are wastmg 
their lives and energies in toil, yet eat not the fruit of 
their labor, for it is wrested from them and offered on the 
altar of Moloch. Yet they perceive not the hand that 
robs them ; and vainly attribute their poverty to defective 
political institutions. Hence, revolution follows revolution 
in rapid succession, like the waves of a troubled sea, but 
no relief is found. Agriculture is interrupted, commerce 
droops, industry is paralyzed, and soldiers and taxes are 
multiplied. Mexico, our own country, and France, bear 
witness that monarchs and nobles are not the exclusive 
devotees of war. Under all forms of Government have 
the wealth, the morals and the happiness of the people 
been sacrificed with their own consent, to their own insane 



REVIEW OF THE MEXICAN WAR. 333 

admiration of glory, and their own foolish idea of the 
necessity of military preparation. 

Let, then, the friends of human progress and of public 
peace, of happiness, and virtue, the patriot and the Christ- 
ian, all unite in one loud and unceasing demand, for trea- 
ties of arbitration. In this blessed reform any nation may 
take the lead ; would that our own had seized the oppor- 
tunity offered by the recent negotiation! Let Congress 
by a joint resolution, express its desire that an arbitration 
clause shall be inserted in all our future treaties, and the 
grt-at work will be commenced. Such a resolution, would 
be jike the first beams of light breaking upon the darkness 
of night, and shining more and more unto the perfect 
day, gradually dispelling the baneful mists of military 
glory and ambition, and diffusing life, and joy, and abun- 
dance, among the suffering milhons of our distracted 
world. 



-^1177-2 



